By: Katelyn Norris
The biggest things most Bellarmine freshmen worry about are finishing assignments, writing essays and figuring out when they can take their next nap.
However, one Bellarmine first-year student, Sydney Strider, has a whole state organization to run on top of assignments and essays. Strider is the state director of March For Our Lives Kentucky. MFOL is a national gun violence prevention program that was started in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting.
Strider’s passion for social justice and activism began during adolescence alongside a drive to be a social justice warrior. Strider brought this enthusiasm to high school, helping form a Diversity Club, and then to Bellarmine’s campus as a member of College Democrats.
As state director of MFOL Kentucky, Strider contacts senators, organizes rallies and attends conferences on gun violence. However, the drive for the pursuit of social change goes beyond MFOL’s gun violence prevention goals.
Strider said: “I focus on gun violence because gun violence prevention is a really big problem, but there are so many problems that are interconnected with it. I just use gun violence as my main thing to…talk about all these other issues.”
Tom Bergan, a member of the MFOL Kentucky state board, spoke on how indescribable Strider’s passion and drive for change truly is.
“You see this spark when they talk about what about anything they care for,” Bergan said.
Bergan explained that Strider plays a big role in what MFOL does and what the organization wants to do. He expressed amazement at Strider’s ability to easily speak to senators and representatives who are much older.
Despite the strong emotional connection to activism, Strider explained that this is not a career pursuit and explained an aspiration to work with kids in juvenile detention, which Strider sees this as a form of activism as well.
“I see it as helping other people. It is a form of activism even if it’s not taking to the streets,” Strider said.
According to Rachel Toll, Strider’s friend and roommate, Strider also pursues an “informal activism” through Twitter. Toll explained that Strider uses the social media app to speak on LBGTQ+ issue and political topics.
It seems that Strider has found a home within the activist community, both within MFOL and within clubs like BUKnighted, Gender Equity and College Democrats at Bellarmine.
Strider explained the activism began as anger but over time that anger was replaced with passion and sharing experiences with others and with people who had similar stories.
It’s through these people and their organizations that Strider found a community of like-minded people with similar life goals. The activist community is like no other community, Strider said.
“People are passionate and angry, but they’re also so kind. Those three things together create like a storm of some the best energy I have felt in my whole life,” Strider said.
Despite all of the activism and passion for change, Strider is still a typical BU student. From participating in a new theater production to being a part of the choir, Strider is involved on campus. And just like every other Bellarmine first-year, Strider worries about studying and finishing assignments and napping.