A partial farewell to Evan B.
Evan Burger, a familiar face to many of you, is leaving his post as a rural organizer for an extremely exciting opportunity. Sad? Yes, but we have some good news….
He will still be working in the office! I sat down with Evan and asked him about his new adventure organizing students in Iowa, and of course, what he is going to miss about CCI.
What is your new position?
I’ve just started as a National Field Associate with the United States Student Association (USSA).
Can you tell us a little bit about this position, and about USSA?
I’ll be leading the “Iowa Student Organizing Project,” which is a joint collaboration between USSA, CCI, and Common Cause to build student power in Iowa. USSA is the nation’s oldest and largest student-run, student-led organization (67 years old!), representing 1.5 million students across the country. Just like CCI, USSA is all about winning people-first victories. Our motto is “Education is a right,” and we want to ensure that college is affordable, accessible, and safe for all people. Specifically, I’ll be working to organize students at Drake University, Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa.
What is the main goal you hope to achieve?
The goal of this project is to fight back against the corporatization of our universities and give students a voice in taking on the problems in their lives. Our current campaigns, we work on two at a time, are focused on ending sexual violence on campuses and improving higher education affordability and access to underrepresented communities like people of color, LGBT, and first generation students. I’m going to be working on building a statewide infrastructure that takes student government seriously as a democratic mechanism.
Why is this an important position?
Universities across the country are a key battleground between corporate power and people power, and Iowa is no exception. Bruce Rastetter should not be able to buy a position on the Board of Regents with campaign donations. Iowa students should not be the 6th most indebted in the country. The Regents shouldn’t be paying millions to an out-of-state consulting corporation for an “efficiency study.” These are the kind of problems that this project aims to address.
Why are you excited about this opportunity?
When you look back at history, you can see the power that students have when they stand up together and fight back against injustice. Just imagine what a statewide student movement could do – the potential is limitless. I’m super energized because it is something entirely new in Iowa and I love the democratic and progressive structure.
How can students get involved?
I’m trying to talk to as many students as possible across Iowa, so if you’d like to meet up and talk about what’s going on at your school, email me at evan(at)usstudents.org and we’ll set something up!
How come you‘re going to still be in the CCI office?
While I’m officially an employee of USSA, all of my work will be directly connected with the great organizing that CCI is leading across the state. USSA, CCI, and Common Cause, are all powerhouse organizations. This project adds all that people power together.
What is your favorite CCI memory?
Bird-dogging Paul Ryan at the Iowa State Fair was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done – but it was completely worth it. We changed the national conversation around his vice presidency.