Students at Harvard University have created a school to resist Donald Trump, whatever that means.
Called the ‘Resistance School,’ it isn’t an official part of the university, but they do promise to teach activists how to ‘resist’ the president in a four-week course. The Resistance School says its goal is to ‘effectively fight Trump’s agenda.’
Over the course of four sessions, the Resistance School claims its goal is to teach students how to communicate their values in political advocacy, mobilize and organize our communities, structure and build capacity for action, and sustain the resistance long-term.
Via Resistance School:
We are a group of progressive graduate students at Harvard who came together in response to the election of Donald Trump, with a desire to help transform our country to better reflect our shared values.
Our team includes former staffers from the Obama, Bernie, and Hillary presidential election campaigns; community organizers; advocates for human rights, campaign finance reform, and veterans’ affairs; and journalists for publications in the US and abroad. Of note, Resistance School is an independently organized project developed by students at Harvard University. It is not an official course or offering of Harvard University or any of its schools.
Co-founder Shanoor Seervai, a student at Harvard’s Kennedy School, told CNN the idea came from overwhelming emotions at the time of the election.
“Resistance School started with a couple of students chatting with a couple of professors, having a sense of outrage and despair and beginning to feel overwhelmed and exhausted with the question of ‘What are we going to do after the election?'” explained Shanoor Seervai, a student at Harvard’s Kennedy School and one of the cofounders of Resistance School
About the Resistance School
“On November 8, we lost more than just the presidency. We lost yet more ground in the decades-long campaign against progressive values. Republicans now control the Senate, House, and more state legislatures than they have in almost 200 years. Those losses have emboldened the right to launch an all-out attack against our nation’s creed – that all are created equal.
Like so many Americans, the election moved us – a group of progressive graduate students at Harvard – to ask ourselves: How can we most effectively fight Trump’s agenda?
What we came up with: Resistance School.
Resistance School is a free four-week practical training program that will sharpen the tools we need to fight back at the federal, state, and local levels. Our goal is to keep the embers of resistance alive through concrete learning, community engagement, and forward-looking action.
We believe that both long-time activists and new additions to the movement need to forge effective offensive strategies to secure progressive victories. Throughout April, we invite you to join with neighbors, friends, or classmates to participate in livestreamed interactive workshops with renowned political campaigners, communicators, and organizers. Each of the skills they’ll showcase is critical to amplifying our collective impact.”
