The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency have come and gone, and the world is getting tangled. Issues such as travel bans, fake news, climate change denial and a potential border wall continue to linger from last year’s election, and as a response people have begun to fight back against this bleak era. Protests and speaker events are held almost every week in the Bay Area to shed light on social issues.

Diablo Valley College is no exception to this wave of heightened activism. Newly-established student clubs have formed to spread awareness about such social issues, including DVC Roots.

DVC Roots seeks to give students an outlet to express their views – and their concerns.

A founder of DVC Roots said he established the club to provide more options for students.

“There was definitely a need for me to bring activism to campus,” he said.” [A lot of students] were looking for something to be a part of.”

According to Jeff Hao and Parker Deverel, two members of DVC Roots, the club has had conversations about a lot of different topics, including effective protest techniques, events like the Women’s March and concepts like racism and white supremacy.

In the club’s final meeting on May 8, students discussed topics ranging from the May Day protests in Oakland to how to deal with being pepper sprayed.

DVC Roots has sponsored several on-campus events over the spring semester, from panel discussions and campus cleanups, to a celebration of International Women’s Day.

They’ve sought collaborate with other student clubs such as Women’s Empowerment, Queer-Straight Alliance and the Muslim Student Association, and are open to working with more clubs in the future.

DVC Roots doesn’t plan to disband anytime soon, and are making plans for the fall semester. They’ve expressed interest in reaching out to high-profile activists and experts for a monthly speaker series.

Their doors are open to any students who are interested in discussing politics and social issues, not just political science majors.

“Our goal as a club is to educate students about something they are not talking about in classes…like how politics affects them,” the founder said. “[We’d like to] get students involved in movements and organizations outside campus who already doing good work – groups like Showing Up for Racial Justice, Anti Police-Terror Project, Democratic Socialists of America – any outside groups that deal with issues that are very close to them.”