Redmond says that activism does not necessarily have a particular political stance.

She cites the recent movement led by Kovacevich to bring grapes back to College dining halls as a prime example of activism on campus.

"A lot of people don't have that sort of passion," she says of Kovacevich.

Uniting the Activists

But with so many overlapping defini- tions of what it means to be an activist, andthe presence of many diverse student groups likeUNITE!, E4A, RAZA and Radcliffe Women's ActionCoalition (RADWAC) which are often pegged asactivist but have different missions, many cite ascattering of time, resources and effectiveness asimpediments to collective action.

Gorke says acknowledging the consequences ofthese differing definitions of activism led himand others to create an activist newsletter calledMuse.

"We saw a whole bunch of separate groupsworking on separate issues, often with separatepurposes," he says. "[The newsletter] was anattempt to bring people together...to figure outwhat we share, what the common values are."

Even critics of Harvard activism acknowledgethe diversity of causes championed by studentactivists and say this diversity clouds theefficacy of activist efforts.

In a panel discussion about student activismthat was part of the Democracy Teach-In,Undergraduate Council member Eric M. Nelson '99said one of the main problems of with activism oncampus is a kind of "generalization" that occurs.

"There are many, many shades of this thingcalled activism," Nelson says. The fact thatactivists on campus have fought for such diverseissues that span from Nigeria to transgenderism,he says, is "unhelpful" to the activist movement.

But the argument is further complicated by thebelief held by some, including Epps that activismcan be defined much more broadly to include allforms of community service.

Drawing the Line

While acknowledging the profound benefits thatcome from volunteering, many student activists saythat doing community service is much like treatinga runny nose without trying to find a cure for thecold.

"There probably are people involved in[Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA)] andHAND who call themselves activists," Wuchinichsays.

"If you're really committed to endingeducational inequality, you need to do more thanjust tutor," she says. "That's not to say youshouldn't tutor. [But] it's important that [some]people are making structural changes, though."

For Morgan, whose group, PSLM, is affiliatedwith PBHA, community service can be the key toactivism if it works to address underlyingstructural problems.