Where O’ Where Have the Millennials Gone? Emerging Shifts in Our Student Body

Often times we think very little about the terribly complex “generational” shifts and the labels we assign them, that is until we find ourselves scratching our heads trying to figure out why we cannot figure out “these kids today.” Recently, I was in a conversation with some faculty and staff colleagues and a realization fell on us all like a ton of bricks. The revelation was not so much about understanding that we are in a shifting generational vortex, caught between Millennials and Generation Z, but rather the realization that this next generation may be a social change juggernaut, the likes of which we have not seen since the 60s and 70s.

If we consider the students who entered our campuses this fall and those that will follow, we have to consider all that they have witnessed since they “came into their knowing,” (which I define basically as the high school years). Most entered high school on the heels of the greatest recession we have seen since the Great Depression. For many, they may have no recollection of anything other than an African-American President. They have witnessed the resurgence of “cold war-like” hostilities with Russia. Then there are the social movements like “The Occupy Movement” and Black Lives Matter.

We have the introduction of same-sex marriages and Supreme Court rulings upholding this precious right, while at the same time the introduction of state laws designed to specifically target the LGBTQI community by legalizing blatant and hateful discrimination.

While all presidential election cycles are full of defamatory and salacious personal attacks with very little substance around issues that impact our daily lives, our current presidential race is unprecedented for a host of reasons. The level of violence associated with this election is astonishing, and it is a manifestation of an undercurrent of hate and bigotry that has been masked by micro-aggressions for some time. We now have the first major party candidate as a woman yet much of the misogyny that exists regardless of party or race, promote the belief that a woman cannot/should not be president, yet we are made to believe that issue is about what happened to 33,000 emails.

All of these things and many more have and continue to occur right in front of this new generation of young people that we will call our students. This undercurrent of class, social, racial, and religious bigotry may not be new, but it appears to have become so much more visible. The media has filled this generation with questions and conflicts that they will try hard to sift through to get to some level of truth in their meaning-making of it all. So we must begin to ask ourselves, dare I say prepare ourselves, for a new kind of student who will challenges us to think and be different.

I have already noticed a different level of engagement; engagement with a laser-like focus that I am not sure I have seen out of a group so young. All we need to do is look around at the level of activism happening on campuses and communities across the country. We are seeing young folks from all walks of life demanding change. When the news broadcasts marches and protests around the Black Lives Matter movement, I am seeing more than a small token of white, Latin@s, and Asian Americans marching and carrying signs in protest, as well. When North Carolina passed House Bill 2, a rainbow coalition of citizens came out in strong opposition to the bill and many of the most visible protesters again appeared to be from a much younger demographic.

Again, I continue to watch what’s happening around the country and the social justice movements which are catching fire, and I think about the numbers of young people that marched with Dr. King and how the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) came into being. I see modern-day students stand up at the University of Missouri as well as other campuses, and then I reflect on the historical student uprising at UC Berkeley and other college campuses in the 60s. I cannot help but draw parallels and wonder if we are on the verge of the next great social movement once again led by young people.

It is still too early to discern what Generation Z will do or become, but if we in the academy are not ready, we will be consumed by a level of activism that most of us have only seen in historical documentaries. The Millennials struck a match and Generation Z seems poised to throw a great deal of tinder on that small flame and transform it into a conflagration that could transform our country and the world. Are we ready???