The panel on Tuesday entitled “Social Marketing: Can Consumer Marketing Work on Social Issues,” left me with a number of unanswered questions. Essentially, the panel was advertised as a referendum on whether or not we can really change anything through the standard activist campaign. I attribute the extremely large draw, around 200-300 people, to the promised posing of that question. But the question was barely even entertained. The first speaker, Leslie Snyder, a professional social marketer at UConn, established in the first five minutes that social marketing most definitely works, end of story. The other panelists, all activists, unanimously agreed and went on to detail their own separate agendas. Clearly, the event, arranged in part by Campus Progress, EON (Environmental Organizer’s Network), and STAND (Students Taking Action Now Darfur), had no interest in a panel that would conclude that activism doesn’t work. Now, perhaps these groups are guilty of organizing their own crafty marketing campaign in order to draw a large crowd, but they can’t be blamed too much—we understand that they have their own agenda.

I have talked to a number of people—alumni, professors, students, journalists—who are disconcerted by what seems to be a lack of activism at Wesleyan these days. At first, my knee-jerk reaction has been to write an angry Wespeak chastising and condescending people for their apathy. But I realized that perhaps the “apathetic” non-active community isn’t just a horde of self-serving, self-interested, grade-grubbing, ambitious sell-outs—a way I once characterized, or rather demonized, them to be. What if they are truly more realistic? What if they do think activism works but are disenchanted with its current manifestation? What if small-time activism isn’t really effective in the first place? What hasn’t been considered?

I would venture to say that not all activists are one hundred percent sure that what they are doing is effective, either. The point is that this campus stands at a critical crossroads. The Keep Wes Weird faction sees the school as being on the brink of Ivy League oblivion, on the cliffs of losing its unique, socially conscious identity. Maybe they’re right. But maybe the school is becoming actually diverse, the days of a singular far left sanctuary now numbered. I don’t know.

I propose a serious Wespeak discussion to flesh out these issues. Perhaps this will be more productive than attacking each other. Perhaps this will help build a greater sense of community and understanding on this campus. Perhaps it will bring a close to the age of bitching and usher in an age of discussion. How about it? Is activism worth our time?