Student-run Civic Engagement Group – Social Action Accomplishments

Posted by San Jose State University on October 20, 2020

Over the past several years, Scott Myers-Lipton has been working with Bobby Hackett, President of the Bonner Foundation, in developing a social action, capstone service-learning experience for Bonner students and beyond (https://www.bonner.org/social-action-course-initiative-launched). What is unique about Social Action is that it is designed to do democracy. Instead of just reading about social change, students learn about power and democracy by doing it. Below are some of what the Social Action students at San Jose State have accomplished.

Social Action Student Accomplishments:

• got Santa Clara County to clear and expunge 13,000 cannabis convictions: https://sanjosespotlight.com/student-activists-celebrate-countys-cannabis-conviction-clearance/
• worked with the SJSU President to develop a 12-emergency bed program and a $2 million rental assistance program for homeless students; https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/4422900-officials-unveil-plan-for-affordable-housing-for-san-jose-state-students/
• developed and led the Measure D campaign in the 2012 election, raising San Jose’s minimum wage from $8 to $10 an hour, and then pushing it to $15; https://news.yahoo.com/student-class-project-leads-minimum-163959852.html
• convinced the SJSU President to agree to become part of the Worker’s Rights Consortium, ensuring SJSU apparel is not made in sweatshops; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JehGpi88oYA
• got the SJSU President to agree to install air conditioning in a 70 year-old building where several students had fainted due to heat exhaustion; https://www.facebook.com/StudentsforDMH/
• and convinced the SJSU President to remove a Tower Foundation board member, after she made a racist comment about Latinas; www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-state-university-students-protest-board-members-alleged-racist-statement/78156