The Tufts political scene may get a little livelier with the addition of a new on-campus branch of the national Socialist Alternative organization, which hopes to educate people about socialism and provide the student population with the option of a third national political party.
"I first joined because I felt that the system we live under is unjust and corrupt," said Dan Dimaggio, a graduate student in history at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the club's organizer and contact person. "I became convinced we needed to replace it with something entirely different, creating democratic control over society and economy."
Dimaggio originally became involved with Harvard University's Socialist Alternative branch as an undergraduate there and he plans to continue at Tufts what he started at Harvard.
Despite its fairly small membership, Socialist Alternative is deeply involved in campaigns for women's and workers' rights.
Some of the group's major projects have included coordinating student walkouts against the war in Iraq, building support for Ralph Nader's pro-worker platform, and participating earlier this year in the March for Women's Abortive Rights and Reproductive Freedom in Washington, D.C.
The organization boasts chapters on college campuses around the country, including the University of Washington, the University of Minnesota, Oberlin College and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
"We need to establish chapters wherever we are," Dimaggio said. "It's the same for any political organization, whether you're a Democrat, Republican, or socialist. You start a club to exchange important political ideas."
While this is their first effort to establish a branch on the Medford campus, Somerville members of Socialist Alternative participated in a Tufts janitors' protest in 1998.
The Tufts chapter hopes to gain more student interest through leafleting and their first two meetings.
The Socialist Alternative's first big event at Tufts will feature Elin Gauffin, an international socialist-feminist from Sweden, who will speak in Barnum Hall Thursday night.
The following week, the group will also present Philip Locker, an organizer for the national Socialist Alternative.
Locker, who has been involved with the group for 10 years, said that college campuses are particularly ideal for recruiting new members. "Young people have always been at the forefront of every social movement," he said.
"A lot of students are asking big questions about how our world works. There's more and more student interest in politics and we're trying to contribute to that, popularize certain ideas, and strengthen the socialist movement in this country," Locker said.
Both Gauffin and Locker are currently touring the country on behalf of Socialist Alternative, making speaking stops at a number of high schools and colleges.
"Every year we try to get a big speaker," Dimaggio said. "Two years ago, we had someone from Nigeria. It's hard because of traveling costs, but they're really exciting events because they show there's an international movement out there."
In the near future, the Tufts Socialist Alternative chapter plans to become involved in forming a Tufts graduate student union, show videos on campus, and work on the Boston-based Ralph Nader campaign.
They intend to hold debates with the Tufts Democrats about the upcoming presidential elections, and hope to be included in future events that are hosted by other student political groups.
Nicholas Boyd, President of the Tufts Republicans, noted that Tufts' conservative political organization will not be affected by the presence of this expanding political group.
"Recruiting members is usually the easy part," Boyd said. "The difficult task is to put an organization to work in a way that truly advances the cause it stands for."
According to the Office of Student Activities, a club needs 15 members to be officially accepted as a Tufts student organization. Socialist Alternative was given temporary club recognition on Sept. 13.
"We've recruited a few people during these first two weeks," Dimaggio said. "We hope to establish a presence on campus and participate in organizing important campaigns."
