The odds might seem slim that two university students from different coasts, backgrounds and interests would be focusing their activism toward the same goal. But in the fight to get corporate money out of politics, Ariel Boone of U.C. Berkeley and Falon Shackelford of Howard University in Washington, DC are an unlikely team. The unfair corporate influence in our elections affects us all -- for the many young people struggling to afford college, the idea that their tuition dollars may end up trickling down to Super PACs and funding attack ads is appalling. Students across the country who believe that tuition money should ultimately be invested in education instead of politics are taking action -- and starting with their own campuses.
Everyone should have an equal vote in our elections. But everyone should also have an equal voice in influencing electoral outcomes. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United put that ideal in jeopardy. Now able to spend more than ever before, major corporations are stacking the deck in their favor and drowning out the people's voice. Here's the kicker: the money these corporations are spending in politics is actually our money. Corporate money in politics affects everyone, even students, because the endowments of many colleges and universities invest those funds with corporations that make secret political contributions.
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