On March 22, I snapped. It was not because of just one thing but, rather, an accumulation of many things over the past couple of weeks. 

It started March 7, when USC confirmed with the Daily Trojan that the Academic Achievement Award and Exceptional Funding programs would both be discontinued. The fact that the University did not directly communicate with the student body about this and made the confirmation after announcing a tuition increase made this worse. But I had hope because, as a campus community, we were able to take this anger and frustration and use it to begin a movement for reinstating these programs. 

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I actively participated in this push to get the University to change its decision: I signed the petition for reinstatement and participated in a collaborative article to share my story with Exceptional Funding. However, I found myself getting even more frustrated instead of being able to use this opportunity as an outlet. 

The University’s actions and reluctance to reinstate these programs may have first sparked my anger, but the constant focus of the student movement on the AAA alone when there was another program also cut, upset me even more. Days went by, but I pushed my growing frustrations to the side and instead worked on trying to bring the voices I did not see to the forefront, myself. In fact, my main motivation behind working on the collaborative article was that I suspected Exceptional Funding would not be given the attention it deserved if I did not voice my personal experience. 

My final straw came on the morning of March 22, when I woke up to see USG’s Instagram post on scholarship discontinuation: The post only mentioned the AAA, and the post incorrectly associated the AAA with Presidential and Trustee Scholars. That was what finally pushed me off the edge. 

Honestly, I think it was for the best. My anger finally pushed me to let my grievances out and talk to other students, many of whom were also in the reinstatement movement. No matter how much work I put in or how much I tried to remind people of Exceptional Funding’s existence, I felt I was fighting an uphill battle alone. 

My voice and the voices of other merit scholars were just an afterthought in this conversation. I knew in my heart this blatant disregard for Exceptional Funding was wrong, but I did not want to be rude or insensitive toward other advocates. The thing is, though, staying silent does nothing to solve the problem, as was demonstrated by this series of events.

This problem is not unheard of in the sphere of social justice and advocacy. In work that involves uplifting different voices and perspectives to find solutions that better our communities, knowing what to focus on and what is being left unheard is difficult. 

From racial divisions in feminist movements to transphobia within the LGBTQIA+ rights movement, there is not a single social movement without internal divisions. Of course, the push to reinstate the AAA and Exceptional Funding are not nearly as large-scale or socially significant as these two examples, but there is still a bigger lesson to be learned here. 

While we were successful in pressuring the University to reverse its decision, we as a student body must learn from the problems of yesterday to prepare for those of tomorrow. Those with lived experience should be centered as they are the ones most closely tied to the issue at hand. For those who don’t have particularly close connections, they must make the space and uplift the voices of those who do have those ties. 

Their opinions are still valuable but need to be discussed at a different time and place so those who need it most get their voice heard. Additionally, advocates must make sure the perspectives they promote represent the true diversity of the movements they stand for. A movement that says it is for all needs to back up its words with its actions. 

Working in advocacy is hard work, but doing so along with feeling unheard is exhausting. In social movements, our strength lies in collective power. The longevity and success of movements lie in the experiences and labor of community members. Only when we communicate and work together to solve internal issues can we lay the foundation necessary for sustainable change.