While clicktivists now somewhat replace foot soldiers, and Facebook is the new form of placard, students – whether formally involved in political groups and societies or not – are effecting real change and drawing attention to political issues on more broad and institutional levels.

The BBC reported that in 2015 and 2016, South African universities were affected by the largest student protests since the end of apartheid in 1994. 34 million pounds worth of damage was caused to property, as students protested the proposal of a rise in tuition fees of between 10 and 12 per cent. A common ‘#FeesMustFall’ banner read: “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”

On 23rd October 2015, a group of 200 UK students gathered in front of South Africa House on Trafalgar Square to show solidarity for South African students. That same morning, South African President Jacob Zuma met with university Vice-Chancellors and student representatives in Pretoria. He announced that afternoon that there would be no increase in university fees in 2016. Protests continued into 2016, after it was revealed that fees would in fact increase.  

In 2016, students at the University of Sydney staged a 65-day occupation of the Sydney College of the Arts (SCA), an appendage of the University. The students were protesting against cuts to SCA staff and the closure of the Callan Park campus, where the SCA currently operates.

When the occupation was brought to a close by over 30 security guards and police officers in October, Thandi Bethune, a Student Representative Councillor, told the University's student newspaper Honi Soit: “I see the eviction as a win for us, it shows we really got under the University’s skin, and now they’ve shown their true colours. It’s more publicity for us.” The University are yet to close the SCA.

Activism also extends to issues beyond campus, as exhibited last weekend when the CUSU Women’s Campaign sent a contingent to join the Women’s March in London.

A student of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) also informed Varsity that, in the wake of Trump’s election, “blank posters were put up in one of the main communal spaces at MIT encouraging people to write up their fears and hopes following the outcome of the election and by the end of the day they were filled with thoughtful and emotional comments.”

Tim Heiderich, a student campaigner against the closure of the SCA, told the Sydney Morning Herald: "It's like that old story about the chicken and the pig that go into business. The chicken says, 'Hey, I'll provide the eggs and you provide the ham'”.  

"In this case, the students are the ones providing the ham."