Abstract

Students in higher education have changed their learning patterns to balance academic and social life to be proactive, even outside the classroom. The purpose of this study was to determine student organizations’ function as voluntary groups in rebuilding community participation in democratic societies due to the presence of digital waves to improve and conduct several actions. This study employed a phenomenology method with four executives of student organizations from different universities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The result showed that students in voluntary groups interpreted their activity as a form of self-existence, instead of essence. Moreover, the digital era was discovered to be a means for higher education to seek graduates with the ability to balance the needs of society and the hopes of democracy in the future.