How to Start an Animal Rights Group at Your Campus

My friends and I recently started an animal rights group at our school, Middle Tennessee State University, called Raiders Organized for Animal Rights (ROAR). Over the last few months some people have asked us how to start their own group, and some have told us there should be more groups around the country. I thought it'd be beneficial to document what we've done so others might be inspired to start their own group, for me to reflect on our efforts, and for others to give us pointers for building a stronger future. Something I want to mention before we begin is that all it takes is 1 person to inform others of animal cruelty. It's great to have a group working together but if you don't know anyone else or would prefer to work alone, most of the following actions can be done (and have been done hundreds of times) by one person alone. Let's start with why organizing for the animals is so important...

Why start a group on campus?

Going vegetarian/vegan is the first step to protecting animals (and the environment and our health) but it's no means to an end. With issues of animal-cruelty being put on the backburner in the media, schools, governmental policy, and in the public mind, we have to organize on a grassroots level to educate the public about what goes on in factory farms and show them the number of options we have available to embrace a more compassionate lifestyle. If we want to see a real shift in our society's attitude towards animals, all animals, we gotta get active!

How to Get Started

It's best to start with a small group of people but if it's just you, you can totally do it on your own! The first thing you want to do is come up with a good name. I think it's important to choose one that is easy to understand and hard to forget. The next move is to get all the paperwork in. Sometimes this can take up to 3-4 weeks so it's best to do it as early as possible. Go to the campus organizations office at your university and ask them to tell you every little detail you need to know in order to become an official, recognized group on campus...then just take care of it bit by bit.

Networking

Once you're official, make sure it's easy for people to stay up-to-date with your group and to keep in touch. This means having a group email, a Facebook group, a website, and whatever other means of communication you'd like to use. It's important to have all of this up before you start so there's no confusion when people want to get involved.

  • (1) Email and website. We obtained a campus email for our group and got webspace through the computer science division at our school. I recommend contacting them, telling them you're an official group, and that you'd like webspace and a campus email account. If they don't know what to tell you or they say they can't do that, try talking to people at the campus organization office. If nothing works out you can get an email account from Gmail, Yahoo, etc...and there are some websites where you can get free webspace such as Freewebs.com. On FreeWebs you can easily design your own even if you're not tech-savvy. Luckily one of our members is an art student with a knack for web design. Ask around and see if anyone knows any web designers at school, or approach web design students and they might be willing to create your website for a school project. It's worth a shot!
  • (2) Facebook. Almost everyone has a Facebook account and this can be a great way to keep people updated with meetings and events. It's easy to start a group on Facebook and if everyone in your group invites their friends the message can be spread to hundreds of people in a matter of a few hours.
  • (3) MySpace. Students do not use MySpace as much as they use Facebook, but it can't hurt to have another webpage! It only helps to spread the message.
  • (4) Talk to other groups on campus. Meet with other social justice groups that may be sympathetic to your cause or a group that you support. For example, several of our members are part of the environmental group on campus, the Amnesty International Chapter, and our Students for A Democratic Society chapter. It's good to build solidarity among other groups working hard for positive changes. You can also work together on certain issues. For example, we'll soon be planning a Green Dining campaign with the environmental group to not only get more veg options in the cafeterias, but to reduce the packaging the food companies use on campus and to increase the use of organic food. All social justice issues are interconnected in one way or another so it's important to make these connections and to work together.

Education

Once you're an official group and you have your means of networking set up, it's important to establish a presence on campus. The main reason we started our group is because there was practically no one on campus addressing animal cruelty. There are a few easy ways to educate your fellow students and to get people talking and thinking about these issues. We've found the three following methods the most effective:

  • (1) Leafleting. If you're a college student you can order free booklets from Vegan Outreach among other non-profit organizations. Vegan Outreach does a program called Adopt a College which connects activists together in distributing literature at colleges. They have been consistently (and increasingly) distributing hundreds of thousands of booklets a semester. These booklets are often around 10 pages long and have images of factory farming with great quotes and information about the horrors of factory farming, followed by information on how to go veg.
  • The greatest part of Vegan Outreach's Adopt A College program (and leafleting in general) is that anyone can get involved, it's easy, effective, and not time-consuming (compared to other modes of activism).
  • Vegan Outreach prints the booklets "Even If You Like Meat...", "Why Vegan?", "Why Vegetarian?", "Compassionate Choices", and "Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating." They also print one called "A Meaningful Life" which gives a brief introduction about Vegan Outreach and explains how to be an effective advocate for animals. Some Vegan Outreach volunteers and staff hand out up to 2,500 booklets a day which always has a strong ripple effect on campuses. If one person gets a booklet they'll talk about it with their friends, the issue is often brought up in class that day, and sometimes professors even speak about it. Just passing out a few hundred booklets in a day or two can have a huge impact by means of the "ripple effect" and you can also meet fellow vegetarians/vegans who will probably be eager to join your group. Because of this it's important to have a piece of paper to get contact information.
  • Although it might seem scary to spend a few hours offering booklets about factory farming to complete strangers, it can be a lot of fun! I was nervous at first but I've found over time that the nervousness turns into confidence. Some common phrases I use and I've heard others use while passing out booklets are: "Brochure to help animals?", "Info to help animals?", "Compassionate choices--check it out", "Info on how our food is made", or just "Check it out." Sometimes people will stop and ask what it is I'm passing out, usually out of confusion, so I simply tell them something along the lines of "We're just out here trying to inform people about factory farms, you should check it out."
  • Sometimes you'll encounter hostile people, but it's no big deal. Although you may want to get into an argument with someone so hostile, it's important to shrug it off and continue leafleting. If someone is so rude and hard-headed, they're not worth your time. You'll make a bigger difference by continuing leafleting instead of standing there arguing with someone so resistant to your message. I also think it's important to keep the message simple. If someone is hassling you, just tell them something along the lines of "We're just trying to inform people and decrease suffering--it's that simple. If you still have problems with that then let's agree to disagree. If you can hang around 'til I'm done we can talk then." Find more leafleting tips at http://www.veganhealth.org/colleges/sugg.
  • You can also leaflet at local concerts, other colleges, high schools, and festivals. Really, anywhere! If you are leafleting on private property and asked to leave, just leave. If you are on public property, you have a legal right to leaflet. But depending on how comfortable you are with the situation, you can decide how to proceed. As a general rule, you can not be arrested if you leave when asked to leave. Jon Camp of Vegan Outreach has been leafleting for nearly a decade and he has never been arrested. For more information on the legalities of leafleting, visit: www.veganhealth.org/colleges/law.
  • (2) Tabling. This is often done in conjunction with leafleting. I've found it's been effective to have 1-2 people leafleting and 1-2 people at a table. At your table make sure you have lots of literature and an email address signup sheet. This works great because while the leafleters are doing their thing, they can just direct interested students over to the table where they can get more literature and sign up to get alerts about upcoming meetings and events. This allows the leafleter to keep going and the interested student to make a connection with the people tabling and pick up literature. If you can, bring free food to your table so interested students can see how tasty vegan food is!
  • (3) Documentary Screenings. I think that documentary screenings are the most powerful means to informing people about the exploitation of animals. The only downside is that it's much harder to attract a great crowd, whereas with something like leafleting you can distribute thousands a day. But I know that a documentary can have a much larger impact on the individual. The best documentary to do a screening of is Earthlings. As Mentos is known as the "Fresh Maker", Earthlings is known as the "Vegan Maker." Anything I could say about it would not do it justice, so I recommend seeing it for yourself. It can be found on veg-tv.info for free, but if you plan on showing a screening of it please buy it from www.earthlings.com. http://www.earthlings.com. The Witness and Peaceable Kingdom, both films made by Tribe of Heart, are great as well. The wonderful Dr. Michael Klaper released a video in the early 90's called A Diet For All Reasons, which is GREAT! It's all about health and veganism. There's also the Diet For a New America video by John Robbins. I've contacted the filmmakers for all of these films and they've said I can screen them and that I don't have to pay for any licensing fees, on the condition that (1) I don't charge admission, and (2) Provide information about where the attendants can buy the film online. I'd still recommend trying to contact them just in case their policy has changed.. Fast Food Nation is also a great film but this was released by Fox so DON'T screen it publicly! But it's a good film to watch with some friends privately. When doing a documentary screening be sure to schedule it for a day and time that most people will be free. I've found that the best days are Monday through Thursday, around 7:30-8 though this will obviously vary from school to school.

Why just leafleting, tabling, and documentary screenings while getting started? Like I said, I've found these to be the most effective. I feel like protests, demonstrations, cage-ins, etc...often confuse and anger people, whereas passing out booklets and hosting documentary screenings are both peaceful approaches to opening people's minds. We need to think and act on what will be most effective for the animals, the earth, and ourselves. They may not be the most romantic or flashy forms of activism, but in our short experience we've found they're the most effective.

Promoting

I have a strong belief that if you're going to do something, do it right! If you put so much work into showing a documentary, organizing a campaign, or anything else, promote the hell out of it! Print fliers, invite all your friends on Facebook (and tell them to invite their friends), stand up before class starts and tell everyone about your event and pass out fliers, pass out fliers around campus, post fliers on bulletin boards, do tabling for the event/campaign, and so on.

Building a Community

By leafleting, tabling, and showing documentaries you'll not only educate and get peopled interested, but you'll also meet plenty of people just like you that want to get involved in the issues. At the beginning of the semester, on a campus of over 23,000 people, I thought that me and 10 of my friends were the only students that were vegetarian/vegan. After a few weeks of leafleting, tabling, and showing Earthlings we met easily over 100 students that are vegetarian/vegan or want to go veg. Many students said things like "I've been looking for a group like this all year!", "I thought there were no other vegetarians on campus!", "I've wanted to try vegetarianism for awhile now.". Just knowing there are other vegetarians/vegans on campus can help build solidarity. In a society that claims to loves animals, for some reason we are sometimes thought of as outcasts, or weird, for working to protect animals. Sometimes this can lead to isolation and even quitting the veg lifestyle due to the lack of a support group. If we build not only a strong organization, but a strong community as well, we'll be unstoppable! Building a community also makes activism FUN! Activism is so fun for me because I do it with my best friends. There is a stereotype that activists are frustrated, depressed, angry, and lonely. Thankfully, I can't relate to that at all and it's because of the strong community we've built and are continuing to build on our campus. There's nothing more rewarding than working to make the world a better place with your best friends. Here are some tips to community building:

  • (1) Be friendly and introduce yourself. Vegan Outreach superstar Victor Sjodin made us aware of how important community building is; how it makes activism fun and that it's key to having a strong organization. After hanging out with Vic we began to see how important it is to break down social barriers. Say Hi to newcomers at your events! Engage in conversation with a stranger even if it's someone that opposes what you're doing. Humans have become so disconnected from one another, for whatever reason, and we shouldn't accept this! Life is more fun when you decide to break out of your shell and meet new people.
  • (2) Organize fun things to do outside of meetings and events. Hold potlucks, organize bike rides, have movie nights...whatever it is you like to do! If the group only hangs out during meetings and events then a serious and work-like environment can easily develop, and that's no good.

Dynamics of the Group

It's important for everyone in the group to know each other and to get along. What's also important is establishing dynamics that work best for everyone.

  • (1) Meetings. Choose a good meeting time. Inevitably there isn't going to be any ideal day/time when EVERYONE can meet unless your group is very small (which it probably will be in the beginning). Because of this it's best to find a middle ground--a day/time that works for the majority. It'd be good for someone that can make every meeting to briefly talk or email with those who can't make the meetings to ensure that everyone's voice is heard and that all ideas are brought to the table. It's good to have meetings on campus instead of a member's apartment so that potential members won't feel uncomfortable going to a stranger's house for a meeting. Have it a public space on campus.
  • (2) Let all ideas be heard. Create an environment that encourages new ideas. Make sure everyone feels free to express their opinion, even if it may not be the most popular opinion.
  • (3) Hierarchy sucks, but having a President or two co-chairs isn't a bad thing. Having one or two people in charge of paperwork and getting things started can help a lot. Just because one or two people are "in charge", doesn't mean their opinion matters more than anyone else's. Just keep everyone level-headed about it.
  • (4) Play off one another's talents. Have the outgoing members leaflet while others table. Have the well-spoken members introduce films and events. The artists of the group can create the fliers and the website, whereas the athletic members can dart all over campus distributing and posting fliers!

Now What?

So now you've established your group pretty well. You've got more members than when you started out, more people on campus are becoming aware of the exploitation of animals, and you've been building a community of like-minded folks. Right on! What to do now? I think it's important to continue leafleting and tabling time to time so that you can continue to educate the masses and find new members as well. We plan to show 1-2 documentaries a semester because they're just so darn effective! Besides tabling, leafleting, and documentaries, here are some other ideas:

  • (1) Work to get more vegetarian, vegan, and organic options on your campus. Try to get them to label whether something is vegetarian/vegan, too, because cafeterias usually don't. Peta2 has a great webpage dedicated to veganizing your cafeteria: http://www.peta2.com/College/cyc-veganize.asp.
  • (2) Cooking demos. They're fun because everyone gets to eat and you can show people how easy and delicious vegan food is. Most dorms have kitchens that you can host the cooking demos in or host the demos at a member's house.
  • (3) Get a speaker. Check out EcoSpeakers.com and Eviltwinbooking.com to get an inspiring activist to speak at your campus. Because it costs a lot of money to tour the country giving talks, most people will have some kind of guarantee. Fortunately some of these costs can be offset by the fact that most activists are low-maintenance and are probably willing to stay at your place if you're willing to host them. This cuts hotel and food costs. You can usually apply for money to pay for these types of events by submitting an application months in advance for funding as a student organization. All universities work differently so I recommend going to your campus organization office and asking them how you can arrange to receive money for a speaker or any other event.
  • (4) Potlucks. Host vegan potlucks that are open to the public. It's a great way to socialize, share recipes, hang out, and show everyone how delicious cruelty-free food is.
  • (5) Dinner nights. Arrange nights where everyone goes out to eat at your favorite veg-friendly restaurant.
  • (6) Do a Veg Week! We just had one and it was a blast. We had 2 potlucks, 1 dinner night, 2 cooking demos, grocery store tours, 1 documentary screening, 1 speaker night, and 1 bike ride. Check out tryveganpdx.com to see their epic Try Vegan week schedule.
  • (7) Host a McVegan event! We haven't done one of these yet but it looks like so much fun: vegan.org/campaigns/mcvegan/index.html
  • (8) What else? I'd love to hear what your group is doing or plans to do.

Fundraising

This semester we haven't really had any major fees at all which has been great, but inevitably we're going to need to raise some money. Here are some tips for that:

  • (1) Bring a donation jar to all your events.
  • (2) Semester or yearly membership dues. If everyone throws in ten bucks at the beginning of each semester or school year this can pay for all the small necessities that go into being an organization, such as: food, renting tables, transportation, ordering literature, buying documentary DVD's, and whatever other costs you may encounter.
  • (3) Have a vegan bake sale.
  • (4) Do a fundraising drive. Set aside a day where members call and email their friends and family asking to donate however little or much they'd like to your organization.
  • (5) Have a yard sale.
  • (6) Ask a vegetarian restaurant to choose 1 day a month in which they'll donate 5-10% of their profits to your organization. Can't hurt to ask.
  • (7) How else do you fundraise? We could add your ideas to this list.

Continuity

So now that you're an official group that has gotten the ball rolling, it's important to keep it rolling. When the leaders of the group are getting ready to graduate make sure there's at least 1 member that is able to keep the group going and be on top of things.

To avoid burn out in general: take time off when the group needs it, think of new and interesting ways to spread your message, keep the atmosphere of the group focused on the issues, but FUN as well! If people aren't having a good time then burn out is inevitable.

Conclusion

I hope this guide helps you in beginning your organization or gives you fresh ideas for your already existing one. I'd love to hear feedback (positive and negative) and I'd also love to hear what you're doing on your campus so that we can improve! Please email our group at roar@mtsu.edu or find us online at mtsu.edu/~roar. Here are some resources to help build your group:

National Groups:

School Groups:

Other: