Centro Universitario Regional del Nordeste Student Associations

   By Nidio M. Tejada Jerez

                                                                               

                                                                      Saturday, December 1^st 2012

                                                                   San Francisco de Macorís

Centro Universitario Regional del Nordeste Student Associations

By Nidio M. Tejada Jerez

        Even though in the recent decades every government of the Dominican Republic has promised to help in the development of a high quality education system for poor students in this nation, schools have lack of resources.  Rarely, teachers and students can say that they have what they need to reach their educational goals.  For this reason, students have been forced to create organizations to fight for the things they need.  Students associations became popular during the 70s, and since then, they have been a good allied for the Dominican Republic’s education system by asking the government to solve its most urgent needs.  San Francisco de Macorís’s student organizations have not been the exception.  Through the years, they have won an outstanding list of very important goals  for the benefit of  students in this city.

       Nowadays, student organizations are facing a difficult period.  That’s why it is important to consider their origin, present role at the Centro Universitario Regional del Nordeste (Northeastern Regional University Center), and what they have won and lost through the years.  Student Associations at at this university did a great job at their beginning, but they have changed and lost part of their fundamental essence gradually.  A student association leader said that student organizations are having problems to enroll new students in their activities.  He blamed transculturation for the students’ attitude or indifference. He said that nowadays students seem to be focused on entertainment, sex, and avoiding hard work.  He means this generation is materialistic, lazy, and has no passion for anything, but amusement.  This situation makes things harder for student associations to work  and find new members and leaders. Although student organizations‘s role is to inspire junior students to go after higher goals and values, in part they have lost their way. They have been seduced by political favors which intend to make them work for their political purposes, making student associations lose a great deal of their own identity.

        Student Associations at Centro Universitario Regional del Nordeste (CURNE) in San Francisco de Macorís were established on a very difficult period in our nation.  During de 70s, Joaquin Balaguer’s government saw every student as its potential enemy and many of them just disappeared or were usually found dead in the city.  In that time, student associations like Fuerza de la Juventud Socialista (F.J.S),  later Fuerza Juvenil Dominicana (F.J.D), Frente Estudiantil de Liberación Amín Abel (FELABEL), Unión de Estudiantes Dominicanos (UNED), Frente Estudiantil de Liberación Flavio Suero (FEFLAS), and Bloque Juvenil Socialista  (B.J.S.)  began their activities in this town.  They started the fight for better education for poor students against  dominant high classes’ interests.  Student associations leaders had to get together in secret places in the country side.  Many very young students were not afraid of getting involved in this kind of fights, like Apolinar and Juan Taveras and William Logis.  Sometimes, to pay the cost of their activities, some students’ leaders had to go to a blood bank and sell their blood.  Otherwise, they had to travel without money, hopping to receive help from other people on the way.  Some police officers chased them and shot the places they were staying, just to send a message to their companions.  Many good students died in the pursue of their goals.  Two good examples are Milton Dilone and William Mieses.  Both of them were killed during the 70s.

         Through the years, students associations have changed drastically from their original role at the CURNE.  Nowadays, they have more office work to do than before.  For example, one of them is helping students to get the Solidarity Card.  In the same way, another group controls the student’s copy center.  And all of them try to help new students by giving them academic pensums and information about their classroom locations.  These activities are good for students, but student associations work is not always that positive.  Although, according to student associations original’s purpose, they are supposed to defend students rights. Their too frequent and violent activities force them to stop receiving their complete class programs.  To make things worse, sometimes a student is killed during their protests resulting in less class, more violence, and fear.  Sometimes, many students and teachers realize that student associations are not really helping to defend the students’ most important reason to go to the university, which is to become high qualified professionals.  In addition, student groups are seen by politicians as a bridge to get a very important position at the CURNE’s University Council.  The University Council receives the leader of the student association that has won the elections of the Dominican Students Federation as a member of its assembly with voice and vote. Because of this, political parties try to control the winning students association.  In other words, if they control the student associations leaders, they control the Dominican Students Federation according to their political goals.  Thus, even though student groups’ original role is to defend students’ interests at the CURNE, they can’t fight against their sponsors’ orders or decisions, making student associations’ role in the University Council suspicious and doubtful.

         The CURNE’s student associations have won many battles but have lost others.  They have won a good name in other cities in the Dominican Republic because they have reached important goals for students of this town.  For example, in the 70s, Santiago and San Francisco de Macorís were competing to get the first branch of the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, and thanks to the student associations’ work, S.F.M won what is now the oldest extension of the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, UASD (Autonomous University in Santo Domingo) in the Dominican Republic.  Students from La Vega, Cotui, Nagua, Samana, Salcedo, and Moca can come to this city to study, while students from Santiago had to go to Santo Domingo.  Santiago city didn’t have its own UASD branch until the 90s.  After that, the student community won a new building for the university.  They asked for the opening of new careers like medicine and they got it.  They fought for students’ transportation, a bookstore, a copy center, and many other good things and won them from the government.  On the other hand, it is sad to say that since the students associations are under political parties control, they have lost their autonomy, original purpose, and goals.  Nowadays, politicians give money to the student groups to make parties and buy alcohol for the young boys and girls who happily vote for them.  This way, politicians take control of the students’ Federation and avoid any kind of contradiction from the students’ organization.  To make things worse, most of the new students are not looking for anything, but fun.  This way, students associations have lost a generation of thinkers.  Currently, it is difficult to find good young leaders.  In the past, great young leaders inspired junior students to fight for valuable goals, but in these days, they seem like puppets of higher interests and that is a terrible loss for the student organizations.  Due to their wrong way to protest, student associations are losing people’s support.  For example, when they stop the traffic burning pneumatics and throwing stones to innocent drivers, they are making themselves look like dangerous organizations on people’s eyes.  If student associations want to be useful and fulfill their original purpose again, they must return to their beginning identity and fight to get back the freedom they have lost.

        In conclusion, even though during the last 40 years, many good young students associations’ leaders worked very hard to change their dark reality.  Besides, many important things have been gained by student’s organizations for students in San Francisco de Macorís.  Today, it is evident that student institutions have become part of the corrupted system they have tried to change.  This young generation is not interested in those kinds of problems.   It seems that its only passion and purpose in life is to enjoy the moment and find the easiest way to live like that every single day, no matter the consequences.  For this reason, to return to their original identity,  student associations’ only hope is to form new free thinking leaders who could resume the students’  cause and regain peoples’ trust through an honest and transparent life of service.  If students associations do not do that quickly in the near future, the only battle they are going to fight is the battle to survive.

San Francisco de Macorís 2012