I’ve been involved with SOOS (Student Office of Sustainability) through my involvement with sustainability clubs as well as my role as Co-Director and Student Government Board Liaison. In this role I support SOOS programming by helping to plan events and goals for the year. As SGB liaison I work with elected student representatives to advance sustainability initiatives on campus. In this role I helped organize a voter registration drive and a conversation around advocacy beyond voting. I also worked with the SOOS council to establish a requirement that a representative from all SOOS affiliated clubs attend racial justice training twice a semester. In this way, I was able to apply the values of racial and social justice I studied in my courses in the way I worked as a student leader.
Fossil Free Pitt Coalition
For the past three years I have been an organizer with the Fossil Free Pitt Coalition. We advocate for the University to divest its endowment form the fossil fuel industry, which has irrefutably damaged the environmental health of the region, and instead invest in the Pittsburgh community surrounding the university. Again, in this work I was able to work first hand as a member of a social movement and witness the power that comes from solidarity and collective action. Last year we organized a two week long sit in the cathedral of learning leading up to the February Board of Trustees meeting. This meeting established the formation of ad hoc committee to review divestment from fossil fuels as well as the university’s commitment to carbon neutrality.
Research Journal
I work as the Associate Editor of the Honors College research publication the Pittsburgh Undergraduate Research Journal (PUR). I worked alongside my peers to establish journal practices and go through the publication procedure for the first issue.
Local/Global Community Engagement
Student Renters Union
Building upon my advocacy work in the Sustainability Course taught by Ward Allebach my group established the Student Renters Union, a SORC and SOOS affiliated club that works to advocate for student renters and establish a sense of community in Oakland for students living off campus. It is our hope that as students are more invested in the community they may treat neighbors and property with more respect. We also worked with the Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters on their efforts to establish a county wide tenants union. Again, this work was informed by coursework on the corporatization of housing and the belief that housing is a human right. This work also brought me to get involved with the Human Rights City Alliance.
