A new political organization will soon be joining the likes of College Democrats, College Republicans, and CSBT. Provisionally called PSAC, Progressive Student Alliance for Change, the still fledgling organization hopes to move campus discourse in a decidedly leftward direction. Sophomores Nadia Shamsedin and Ekow Bartels-Kodwo each developed an idea for a new liberal-minded political group independently of one another over the past year before agreeing to combine their efforts to form PSAC. Both developed their idea in response to the perceived dominance of conservative beliefs in campus discourse.
Before starting a new organization, Bartels-Kodwo attended a College Democrats meeting around the end of fall term and presented his idea to members of the group. At the time, he argued that Furman needed a new political group to act as a liberal counterweight to CSBT. Several members of College Democrats expressed reservations about the proposal, but Bartels-Kodwo indicated his intention to proceed nonetheless.
Up until a few weeks ago, Bartel-Kodwo’s plan had not yet achieved concrete realization. However, he and Shamsedin had shared ideas and spoken about working together to start a new liberal group. Finally, in reaction to CSBT’s concealed carry petition and CLP event, the two of them, along with junior Brittany Berger, decided to form PSAC.
As of right now, SGA does not fund PSAC, but the organization has drafted a constitution and intends to apply for funding soon. However, SGA regulations limit previously unfunded groups to an initial budget of $500, a mere fraction of the $15,000 College Democrats received; $21,000 College Republicans received; and $32,000 CSBT received last year.
Shamsiden admits that PSAC has a long way to go before achieving the goal of becoming a prominent group on-campus. “I don’t expect this organization to be a huge force for a couple years,” she said.
Despite the influence CSBT had in prompting the formation of PSAC, Shamsedin says that they do not want to be seen as a counterpart to CSBT.
“I understand that people are going to see us as a rival,” she said. “It is not my intention to be a rival to CSBT. The main goal is to show another side to every argument.”
CEO of CSBT Stephen Sebastian said he welcomes “anybody who wants to contribute to campus dialogue.”
“I would hope they’ll be pleasant about it,” he said. “I hope they’ll be willing to engage those they disagree with.”
Likewise, Raul Rodriguez, Treasurer of College Republicans, expressed his appreciation for a diversity of perspectives in campus discourse.
“I think it’s good to have more organizations to bring more speakers who present different views,” he said.
According to Shamsedin, PSAC will be nonpartisan and open to everyone regardless of political leaning, even conservatives should they wish to join. The organization will focus on organizing CLP events and cooperating with other political groups to balance campus discourse, she said.
Ben Saul, Vice President of College Democrats, said that they want to work with PSAC but that College Democrats must distinguish itself form PSAC.
“We support them,” he said, “but they’re not part of our organization, and we’re not part of theirs. We try to be big tent and not just a progressive organization on campus.”
President of College Democrats Mattson Smith noted that several members of the organization, including himself, considered starting another liberal group like PSAC last year but that they eventually decided to build off of the existing College Democrats base rather than start a new club. With regard to PSAC, he promoted a watch and see approach.
“It’ll be interesting to see how much they’ve thought through the process and how committed they are to making it flourish,” Smith said.
There seems to be a mutual agreement between the leaders of the College Democrats and PSAC that political discourse at Furman leans conservative but that there are also many uninvolved liberals whom they can “activate.”
“There are lots of closet Dems on-campus,” Smith said.
While Sebastian admitted that Furman students tend to lean conservative, he also noted the abundance of left-leaning student organizations on-campus-Amnesty International, IJM, and EROS, among others-and questioned whether PSAC would be able to distinguish itself as an organization against such a fragmented political backdrop.
Indeed, PSAC is pinning much of its success on the ability to unite liberal students and organizations. However, as a nascent group, PSAC is very much in the process of defining itself still.
“We’re not going to take any official stances on any issues,” Shamsedin said. “We’ll let everyone have their own opinions. We’re not trying to be radical, not trying to put labels on ourselves. We just want to show how the country can progress and the university can progress.
