Q&A with Nikki Muth

Student Part of Social Justice Solution

April 6, 2010

Cal State Fullerton senior Nikki Muth is a project director of Students ACT (Students Advocating Civic Transformation), the organizer of this spring’s Social Justice Summit on April 17.

Students ACT, a project of the university’s Volunteer & Service Center, promotes civic engagement, social responsibility, and increased support and leadership development for student activists.

Muth talks about her involvement in planning the Social Justice Summit, which is free and open to the public, and why it is important for students and others to be involved in social justice issues in the local community — and the world.

Q: What is the importance of this event?

A: The Social Justice Summit is the most educational and rewarding day of the year. During the summit, we talk about issues of oppression on the community, national and global levels. The stories we cover are on the micro, meso and macro levels; many of these stories are not covered in mainstream education or media. The importance of this event is the unique opportunity to learn about social, political and economic oppressions that our community either directly or indirectly contributes to, while also offering effective and lasting solutions.

Q: What are the benefits of attending?

A: We bring education to our campus and local community about issues that usually go uncovered by mainstream media. At the same time, we empower and encourage conference attendees to make a positive change in their community. These are challenging goals to accomplish, and Students ACT gladly accepts this challenge to bring a profound and lasting change to the community.

Q: What are some of the highlights?

A: The Social Justice Summit offers more than 25 workshops, presented by experts who give participants interactive tools to help them not only learn about the topic, but implement change in the community. This year, we also have guest speakers and about 40 different campus and nonprofit organizations represented at our resource fair, which offer participants the opportunity to get involved in social action. All of the organizations that support the event are also socially conscious.

Q: Why are you involved in Students ACT?

A: I have been involved in different volunteer activities since youth, and I am particularly connected to this event because it covers such a huge array of local, national and global social injustices. Planning this event is also incredibly unique and challenging. I have never been involved in an event that aims to tackle so many issues with almost a nonexistent budget. To fund the summit, we coordinate fundraisers and pursue support from both campus and community sources.

Q: What is your personal message regarding social justice issues?

A: Social justice does not have one universal definition because it can mean different things for different people, and that is why we try to cover as many topics as possible at the Social Justice Summit. Social injustices occur all over the world and whether we realize it or not, we are contributing to these global oppressions. Because we are so detached from the populations that are hurting the most, it becomes easy to ignore the issues and regard “action” as either futile or unnecessary. I disagree with the common and current trend of apathetic inaction and refuse to simply sit back and regard the issues pointless. If I can make a difference in just one person’s life, then I have succeeded at my job.

Related Story

Social Justice Summit April 17