Student Network

How to Start a SPAN Chapter
National SPAN
About SPAN

Student Peace Action Network,the student arm of Peace Action, is a grassroots peace and justice organization with campus chapters all over the country.

Though our recent work has focused on ending the war on terrorism (and the anticipated war in Iraq), we campaign on a number of issues:

• An end to physical, social, and economic violence caused by U.S. militarism at home and abroad.
• Nuclear abolition, disarmament, and an end to weapons trafficking.
• A foreign policy based on human rights and international cooperation, not military might and corporate greed.
• A peace-oriented economy and national spending priorities that support human and environmental needs, not the military industrial complex.

About SPAN
This year, SPAN’s work is particularly important. The current administration seems determined to flex its military might no matter what the cost; to pursue narrow corporate interests at the expense of human life; to wriggle out of (and outright violate) international treaties; to drive the country into budget deficits with lavish military spending while our schools are starved for funds. They are pushing for new nuclear weapons and more uses for them. They are fueling anti-Americanism abroad. What will the next two years in office bring?

Through coordinated actions, demonstrations, teach-ins, letter-writing campaigns, anddissemination of materials, SPAN activists all over the country challenge policies like these and work for non-violent, constructive alternatives. A $400 billion defense budget can't protect us; a change of direction will. We are working for that change.
 
How to Start a SPAN Chapter

If you're starting from scratch:
Email the SPAN Coordinator (span@peace-action.org) with your contact information and mailing address so we can send you our publication, Grassroots Organizer, and other materials.

• Try to find one or more like-minded person(s) to share in the initial planning stage. Arrange a time and place for interested students to meet, and advertise the gathering by posting flyers around campus (and whatever other publicity options are at your disposal: a campus events calendar, daily announcements, etc.). Make the meeting place a common, easily accessible location, like the student union, café, or lounge.
  
  
• Be inclusive; respect people’s time. If the Latin American Student Union meets Tuesday nights at 8, don’t exclude them by picking the same meeting time. Consider the time restraints and work commitments other students might have and try to accommodate. Someone working her way through school with a part-time job won’t have time for a four-hour meeting. Speaking of which who wants to go to a four-hour meeting anyway? Planning and good facilitation should keep your meetings fun, on topic, and of reasonable length—try an hour. Try rotating facilitators, so that each week a different person is responsible for keeping the meeting running smoothly and according to the agenda
  
  
• Define your mission. An early meeting should be dedicated to articulating the purpose, intention, name, and constitution of your new group so that initial members are knowledgeable, comfortable, and feel ownership in the group.
  
  
• Get official group recognition by the university. This may be as simple as registering with the Student Activities Office, or it may entail finding a faculty advisor or sponsor. Either way, official recognition will give you privileges like free use of university facilities, audiovisual equipment, office space, supplies, and funding. Ask for information on what is available.
  
  
• Get moving! Decide what campaigns you want to focus on. A great start—and a great opportunity to oppose the war on terrorism and the possibility of war in Iraq—is planning an October 7 teach-in on your campus. (October 7 marks the anniversary of the day the U.S. started bombing Afghanistan.) 
  If you already have a group:
  Email the SPAN Coordinator (span@peace-action.org) with your contact information and mailing address so we can send you our publication, Grassroots Organizer, and other materials.
  
  
• Bring some SPAN literature to your meeting and discuss the advantages of joining a national network, having access to a reliable resource bank, learning new organizing skills, and plugging into the student movement as a whole. If you’re undecided, consider joining a SPAN campaign or coordinated event and talking to other SPAN chapters. Becoming a SPAN chapter does not mean you have to change your group’s name, work exclusively on SPAN issues, or give up your autonomy--we ask only that you participate in campaigns and events that interest you, send us clips of any press you get, and, if you can, send representatives to SPAN events (like the council meeting and SPAN Summit).