What we've gleaned from student organizing at Macalester College over the past 20 years.

Student movements are a potent force - we see them making changes on campuses around the world. In the last half-century, Macalester has seen intense anti-Vietnam War protests and the sit-in that brought about the formation of the college's ethnic studies curriculum. Yet I believe that the college administration faces minimized accountability and responsibility because of the generational turnover of the student body and the lack of movement sustainability and knowledge sharing. As a fourth-year student organizer, I believe that I just now understand how to bring about change on this campus - but my class and I are graduating in five weeks. If we had a place to share knowledge specific to organizing at Mac, we could save underclassfolks the time and energy spent building relationships, learning procedures, etc. year after year.

This is that place: part archive, part how-to manual, part digitized zine. My hope is to glean the expertise of 2019 graduates and young alumni to reduce the loss of experience, connections, and campus know-how at commencement.



If you want to be a MacRising Member/a part of the continuation of this site beyond May 2019, contact second-year Ashley Vargas at avargas2@macalester.edu. A constant resource alongside the MacRising team is Mac Archivist Ellen Holt-Werle who is trustworthy, kickass, and cares deeply about preserving student movement history.

YOU should make this site what you think it should be. Add the things I didn't find. Update and shape it into the resource current students can rely on. Then pass it on.