Even tight-fisted MTV executives bend to the power of youthful protest.
On Tuesday, the city of Philadelphia and Bunim-Murray Productions officials finalized a deal that would return The Real World to its location at Third and Arch streets.
This was due not in small part to the efforts of Young Involved Philadelphia -- a Penn-founded group that strives to redefine the city by energizing its youth.
YIP delivered 3,200 online petitions to city officials and Real World producers stating why the show was so important to the city. They also organized a rally that garnered national attention to protest the departure of the MTV show. In a press release from the Mayor's Office, these actions were cited as being instrumental in the retention of the show.
"We think that was really significant," says YIP Chairwoman and 2001 College graduate Sara Nasuti. "Constantly being in touch with the media made it really clear that it was important."
YIP is a nonprofit organization that aims to foster civic engagement among Philadelphians under the age of 35. The group was founded by seven people in October 2000, and since then, its membership has grown to between 150 to 200 people.
"We wanted to get good ideas out of the box," says YIP co-founder and 2000 College graduate Troy Madres. "We felt that the city had been arthritic over the years."
The group organizes events aimed at educating the young -- inviting business, civic and political leaders to give talks. Board members said they hope these will help people connect with and adopt a more active role in the city.
YIP's civic efforts are not limited to political motivation of the often apathetic youth. They also cater to those who seek an avenue for their activist desire.
"We want to get somebody who's on the cusp, thinking about an issue, but feels they're not being represented," Madres says. "We want to find avenues for which people can learn more about their communities."
In addition to increasing civic engagement among young people, YIP advocates for issues that it believes will have a positive effect on the city's youth, such as tax reform, campaign finance reform and even returning skateboarding to Love Park.
"We're advocating for good government, things that make the city economically prosperous," Nasuti says.
Action has taken the form of petitions, rallies and meetings with top city officials. Most recently, YIP has successfully advocated for bringing The Real World back to Philadelphia.
"Because we're a group that represents young people, we think that The Real World coming here [affects] the perception of whether [Philadelphia] is a cool city or not," Nasuti says. "From an economic perspective it's hugely important ... for us to lose that would be a huge setback."
Members said YIP's primary challenge in future years will be sustaining the organization and keeping a purely volunteer, nonprofit group active and youthful.
Madres says that members of the board -- which include co-founder and 2000 Wharton graduate Andrew Hohns -- do not simply sit behind a desk and draft policy, but rather they participate in the group's rallies and protests as well. He added that keeping up with this large workload can be difficult to accomplish since board members all hold professional jobs.
The group also wants to correct the problem that faces both the city and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a whole: the continuous brain drain.
"Making sure people stay here after graduation is a huge concern," Madres says. "Philadelphia is great to understand what it's like to live in a big city, but not have the anonymity of being in New York."
