Grinnell students lead busy lives, and discussion panels and lectures are some of the more common ways to reach students and keep them up-to-date about current political issues. Sometimes, though, particular events require a different sort of political engagement. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of being involved in Grinnell's own Million Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin. The march was part of a national awareness campaign that protested the shooting of an unarmed 17-year old teen named Trayvon Martin and called into question Florida's "Stand Your Ground" laws. It was a political act in a sense that it made people re-evaluate and criticize the "Stand Your Ground" laws and similar variations, which ultimately affected crime rates and court decisions.
I believe the march dedicated to Trayvon Martin was one of the more notable student-run political events on campus, because it allowed students to easily participate and understand the current national issues through a different and nontraditional format compared to the usual discussion panels and lectures. It was also significant because multiple organizations decided to unite and collaborate with one another to organize the event, despite differences in each individual's political affiliations.
