The Social Context of the Rank-and-File Student Activist: A Test of Four Hypotheses

This paper examines, within colleges of varying institutional quality, a core of characteristics that previous studies have identified as strongly associated with students' political activism. We find that there is no consistent association between socioeconomic background and activism within quality contexts; that academic commitment is related to activism only at the better institutions; that majoring in the humanities and social sciences is associated with activism primarily at the better institutions; and that being intellectually oriented is associated with activism in all quality contexts. The higher rates of student activism found to prevail at the nation's leading institutions are not simply a function of the kinds of students they attract. These institutions foster or promote activism among all categories of students. We conclude that in future research more attention should be focused on the institutions where activism is concentrated and the issues that concern the student activist. A NEW STUDENT MOVEMENT has emerged on the American college campus. Its participants include the vanguard of contemporary civil rights activists, anti-poverty workers, anti-militarists, and peace agitators, as well as those calling for the democratization of our major institutions-especially the educational ones. The Movement seems to be increasing both in its intensity and in the magnitude of its support among young people. Social scientists have begun to turn their attention to this Movement, particularly to the kinds of students who have become involved in it.