Grant Stover sat perched on a bench on Ohio University’s College Green after requesting to conduct his interview outside, taking advantage of the mild weather. As president of OU’s Sierra Student Coalition, he is no stranger to the outdoors.
“I had always been environmentally minded, I guess you could say,” he said. “Just regular things like enjoying being outdoors, hiking and camping.”
Stover started exploring Sierra Student Coalition, a group dedicated to environmental advocacy, after hearing about it his freshman year.
“It immediately struck a nerve with me, so I just kept going,” Stover, a former Post columnist, said. “From there I met people from Student Union, and I’m a part of both groups now.”
Stover said although the Sierra Coalition is his main focus, Student Union also plays a very vital role in his activism experience on campus. It allows groups like SSC, Black Lives Action Coalition (previously known as New BLAC), F--kRapeCulture and others to come together, he said.
“Fighting for one of these issues by themselves isn’t necessarily enough,” Stover said.
Though he is president of Sierra Student Coalition, Stover said he prefers no formal hierarchy within the group. As far as he is concerned, he said, his job is to schedule meetings and keep them on track.
“My goal for Sierra Club, and I think for everyone in that room, is for people to be able to come in and openly talk and have a chance to talk about environmentalism and OU,” he said. “I don’t think any hierarchy would help that. I think it’d just slow us down.”
He said he wants people who are new to activism on campus to feel a part of the conversation too, although it can be intimidating. Stover said people need to be ready to be confronted with an inconvenient truth, or realize that they may be contributing to problems in ways they don’t even realize.
“Don’t be afraid to be uncomfortable,” Stover said. “Try and realize that in the end, it’s probably the best thing for you. That’s how I’ve learned the most, is putting myself into situations where I’m not in control of what’s happening.”
Intimidation shouldn’t be taken as an attack on anyone personally, he said. The purpose of campus activism is to learn.
“Overall, everyone in that room has an idea of a better university, and that’s really what it’s about,” Stover said.
Activism can be draining at times, he said, and there’s nothing wrong with taking a step back.
“Sometimes you just need a break,” he said. “That can motivate you to get back into it, after you’ve had that time to reassess what you’re doing and what’s important.”
Activism has made Stover think in a “global sense.” What happens at OU is symptomatic of the country, and what happens across the country is symptomatic of the world, he said, and that’s what student activism is fighting.
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Stover said he hopes nobody ever takes anything for face value in regard to student activism, and that it’s something he has to work on every day.
“When someone walks up to (you) and is handing out a pamphlet or wants you to sign something, really think about what they’re doing,” he said. “They could be off studying or doing whatever they want, but they’re taking the time to do something that’s important. Don’t just take something for what you think it is, but really think about the end goal.”
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