Student Activism on Campus and Beyond: Rutgers University Student Marches Against Trump

by Michaela Felix

For Rutgers University sophomore Clarissa Gordon, she has no problem using the ‘F’ word. Feminism, that is.

Born and raised in Manhattan by a single mother, Gordon has always been surrounded by heavy feminist influences.

Due to her upbringing in a fairly liberal neighborhood with numerous female artists and an all-girls high school education, Gordon’s feminist interests have been always grounded within her.

Accompanying her feminist upbringing and a wake up call by attending Rutgers, Donald Trump’s election was also a big factor in Gordon’s decision to become more politically educated.

With the rise of student political activism in the age of Trump, Gordon marched alongside not only the approximated 1 million people at the Women's March in Washington D.C. on January 21st but with the millions of people upset about President Trump’s election who marched around the globe.

For the 19-year-old Journalism major, the seven and a half hour train and bus journey was well worth it.

“I wanted to be right where the government is. Being where it all began and as close to where all the issues start was very important to me,” she explains of her decision to attend the march.

“Seeing all the men who came out to support too was very inspiring,” continues Gordon.

Gordon marched with Planned Parenthood, an organization that played a large role in her receiving sex education due to her attending an all-girls Catholic high school.

“It was such a warm and welcoming and professional environment so since it’s in jeopardy of losing funding I felt that I had to stand for them,” she describes about her experience with the organization.

Upon the beginning of her Rutgers career, she immediately recognized the political climate she entered and made it her duty to become more informed.

“Coming to Rutgers made me more interested in politics. Being in a political environment can really wake everyone up,” explains Gordon.

In the wake of President Donald Trump’s election, millions of people have taken the initiative to let their fears and concerns be heard by organizing protests and marching, even seen here at the Rutgers University New Brunswick campus this past November.

That very protest was a pivotal moment for Gordon and her journey in political activism.

“It was so liberating and therapeutic. I just didn’t want to miss out,” Gordon comments on her decision to attend the November 16th protest against President Trump and his policies.

It was the first protest Gordon has ever participated it and it certainly wouldn’t be her last.

Gordon hopes to meld her political interests and her pending journalism career together in the future when she graduates in 2019.

“I want to write for magazines and would definitely want to combine my political and feminists interests into it,” Gordon remarks.

“I like women's lifestyle magazines because they give you a little bit of everything. My interests range from politics to something as trivial as celebrity gossip and publications like Refinery29 and Cosmopolitan get political sometimes,” she continues.

If that doesn’t work out though, Gordon has a plan to make her voice heard anyway in the future.

“Maybe I’ll create a publication of my own one day,” she states with a big smile, optimistic for her future in journalism and raising awareness for feminist issues.