Performative action on campus
Your lack of action means more than you think
Photo courtesy of Managing Editor Regan Russell
A few weeks ago, Geneseo was home to an installment of the No Kings protest, which was co-hosted by the student organization Peace Action Geneseo (PAG). The protest brought in a large group of people dedicated to the cause. Many of the participants were Geneseo students, which may lead some to believe that these students are involved in the student group PAG, but this would be false; the group currently has only four executive board members and less than 10 weekly attendees.
On campus, performative action can be seen in a wide variety of ways, one of which involves increased social media presence and the decline of physical presence. For many of the protests, rallies, or other events, there are countless students who repost the information on their social media accounts but do not show up to the event.
This is likely because the event may not be catered to a specific issue or topic that they find to be important to them, but that they still recognize is important overall. They view reposting something on their social media to still be supportive and contributing to change. While this may be true for many students, it is still harmful in many scenarios. For example, groups often try to predict what their attendance will look like, especially for events like a protest where the police are informed about the event ahead of time. Having a more accurate range of attendance allows for an easier planning process, but when everyone reposts the flier but does not show up, these numbers are skewed.
The concept of a protest can be very scary to students, as they may associate the word with violence, which is often heavily reported on social media when protests become heated. This may lead to many students, many of whom may agree with what the protest stands for, choosing not to attend because they are fearful of what the event will look like. Students also often wish that there were more discussions and information made available ahead of time to answer questions about an upcoming rally or protest.
These are all very valid concerns, as social media has a tendency to portray violence and expose people to unnecessary scare tactics. PAG recognizes these issues and is working to prevent them, but this hard work is useless if people do not show up to the meetings, subscribe to the email list, follow the Instagram page @peaceactiongeneseo, or have any sort of interaction with the club.
Weekly meetings for most clubs struggle to get high numbers of attendance because students need this time during the week to go to class, finish homework, or even just take time to themselves. Because of this, people often wish that clubs like PAG would have an event that is not a protest outside of these weekly meetings at a separate time. This is something that PAG already does!
In the past PAG has hosted volunteer sessions, collaborations with other clubs, fundraisers, and even educational events with professors. Over the course of the next two weeks, PAG will also be doing a food drive in collaboration with local food pantries in support of those who have lost their SNAP benefits. This information has been discussed at meetings, spread through email, and posted on social media. This is the perfect opportunity to stop the performative action and start making a difference on campus. There will be can collections on two different weekends, allowing for as many students as possible to attend.
There are ways to make a difference as a student with a busy schedule, as long as you make conscious choices. Instead of supporting a company that mistreats its workers like Amazon, support one of the small businesses on Main Street like the Not Dot Shop. The same could be said for getting food; skipping supporting a company like McDonalds that funds problematic organizations and instead buying food from someplace new like the Kalash Kitchen is a great choice. Even reaching out to organizations like PAG and offering to hang up fliers for events that you cannot attend can help to make a difference.
Being busy does not have to stop you from making a change, even if it is just a small step in the right direction. There are too many important issues in 2025 for students to pretend to care about things while allowing their actions to show otherwise. If you are wondering how you can make a difference in your busy schedule, reach out to peace@geneseo.edu or start doing some research!