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Summary

Abstract:
Campus Action was formed in April of 1992 as a multi-cultural, multi-issue organization with a mission to promote activism and support activist organizations on university campuses in New Yorks Capital Region.
Extent:
2.29 cubic ft.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Campus Action Records, 1992-2006. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Campus Action Records).

Background

Scope and Content:

The records of Campus Action contain materials collected and generated by the organization including both paper documents and electronic records. These materials include minutes, correspondence, publications, grant applications, webpages, fliers, leaflets and other handouts. The collection holds material from the Campus Action central office and does not contain material specific to the individual chapters of Campus Action.

Campus Action created a number of publications for campus distribution. These include the newsletterCampus Action News, two study guides, and directories of local activist organizations and internships. These are all well represented in the collection, along with materials from the biannual conferences held to help organize activism, primarily as paper documents with some additional later material in electronic form. There is a lack of records from 2000 when David Easter was on hiatus and, for example, there were no issues of Campus Action News produced.

The central office collected a great deal of material on issues of interest to Campus Action, including acquaintance rape, racism, war protest, feminism, and civil liberties. The paper materials deal heavily with the issue of date rape and sexual harassment on campus, while the more extensive electronic files include more recent material on a wider variety of topics. All electronic records were reformatted to Printable Document Format (PDF) files and can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Campus Action's opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is particularly well documented in the electronic records, with related defenses of detainees in the civil rights and racism sections. The case of Ali Yaghi is also documented in the electronic records. Yaghi, an Albany resident and owner of a pizza shop, was arrested just days after 9/11. He was detained on the basis of a tip by a passerby, who claimed to have heard Yaghi making anti-American statements. Yaghi was detained for months and though eventually cleared of all allegations related to terrorism, he was deported to his native Jordan because of his immigration status.

Biographical / Historical:

Campus Action was formed in April of 1992 as a multi-cultural, multi-issue organization with a mission to promote activism and support activist organizations on university campuses in New York's Capital Region. It maintained eight chapters representing individual campuses as well as a central office at the Social Justice Center in Albany. Campus Action was led by David Easter, the founder and coordinator, and a board of directors. The campus chapters in the Capital Region, including the University at Albany, possessed considerable autonomy.

The primary goal of Campus Action was to increase progressive activism on college campuses and build cooperation between campus and community activist groups. To this end, it produced a number of publications, including guidebooks for organizing, specific issue guides on racism and sexism, and directories of activist groups. Its most regular publication was the Campus Action News newsletter, an update of activities and events, published three times a year. Campus Action offered internships to students interested in working for an activist organization and published an Alternative Internship Directory that directed students to other organizations. In addition, Campus Action sponsored and organized a number of events including a biannual organizing conference for a variety of causes, workshops, protests, and demonstrations.

In April of 2006, David Easter announced that he was stepping down as coordinator of Campus Action and closing the central office. This meant that publication of Campus Action News would cease and the website would no longer be maintained, but the individual campus chapters would continue to function.

Acquisition information:
All items in this manuscript group were donated to the University Libraries, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, by Campus Action in July and September 2003, May and June 2004, and April 2006.
Processing information:

Processed in 2006 May by Joshua Hauck-Whealton (2006).

Arrangement:

The collection is organized as follows:

Series 1: Administrative Files, 1992-2004, undated

Series 2: Publications, 1992-2006, undated

Series 3: Events, 1992-2004, undated

Series 4: Subject Files, 1993-2003, undated

Physical location:
The materials are located onsite in the department.

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Using These Materials

ACCESS:
The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.
RESTRICTIONS:

Access to this record group is unrestricted.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

PREFERRED CITATION:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Campus Action Records, 1992-2006. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Campus Action Records).

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