Student political parties and their poison

In Greece's last student elections the two top student parties both celebrated their first place. It is unknown who actually won. This discrepancy of course, shows the deterioration of the student party/faction system.The question is one: do we need them? The short answer is no.

First, the student factions have created a warlike climate among students, with the University buildings being the battlefield: propaganda posters, recruitment tables and various "soldiers" fighting each other, often literally. These "war" machines have penetrated very deeply into the university: from secret deals with professors, notes, subjects and cheat sheets, all the way to trips, bottles in clubs and much more. Student groups have becom a business and have acted as propaganda instruments, for years.

This rotting systems affects the university students collectively, however, it also affects them individually. In particular, the factions' basic recruitment model is primarily based on one's first days at university. That is, when he is most in need of friends, socialization and guidance, which factions take advantage of. Registration help, faculty advice, a coffee, these are the steps taken to get the victim student to vote in the election or join the faction. This Machiavellian tactic, of course, is experienced in multiple ways by the victim: they realize that their first friends are fake, they feel like they've been taken advantage of, or, ultimately, they get trapped in a group of people with whom they do not feel at ease but feel like they have no other choice. The result is that trusting relationships among students are in crisis, which is making them more cynical and avoidant of politics.

The members of the student factions, of course, also experience the effects of this phenomenon. First, there are those who were recruited and remain, still, trapped. Second, all faction members become pawns in this game. To survive in it, however, you have to do things tactically: you meet people purely to increase your influence, you fall behind in your career and university work in favor of the faction, and you live in a state of worry because all you see is prey or predators. Ultimately, the student loses his or her individuality under the banner of the faction.

So what now? Abolishing factions is the only way to end this strained situation in our universities and to concentrate on the production of scientific work. No more violence, posters, bar discounts and vandalism. They do not belong to our universities. The Greek government introduced a single ballot first to disband student factions and then the exact opposite. The result, of course, remains the same: student factions remain.

That is why we must look abroad. There, although there are no student factions, politics continues to happen and student demands are heard. A shift to smaller student bodies might promote individualism on the ballot and weaken factions gradually. If only a the number of people in the ballots is reduced, then mass mobilizations and factional systems are no longer useful.

In summation, student factions create and sustain serious issues inside our universities. It is certainly not all of them and certainly some (regardless of political leanings) have achieved positive changes for students. But the change does not have to be partisan, nor do we need these hordes of people who instead of serving the students' interests, serve partisan interests. Let's put an end to the continuous degradation of our Universities by the factions. Let's do it firstly to protect higher education and secondly to counter the argument in favor of private university education. It is time to get out of the mire of partisanship and have real political discussion in our universities. But most of all, lets focus on the knowledge!