‘Students are looking for more support from the university’, Climate activists on campus share their experiences

Penn State is home to many students and staff who have a passion for raising climate awareness, advocating for policy change and promoting sustainable practices in order to combat climate change.

Jacob Seiler, chair of the Student Sustainability Advisory Council (SSAC), advocates on behalf of students to university leadership. The council is composed of students who develop proposals throughout the year, then pitch them to the administration.

“It’s one of the only (University Park) organizations on campus where we get that much administration to come in at once to listen to students’ thoughts,” Seiler, a graduate student studying architectural engineering, said. “So it’s sort of the big picture.”

Some of the ideas pitched by the Student Sustainability Advisory Council in the past include a climate action plan to achieve climate neutrality, a bike share program that resulted in the Spin E-bikes seen around campus and a long-term plan for single-use plastic reduction.

In terms of student involvement and advocacy, Seiler recommends that community members take part in rallies and petitions, along with getting involved through the Student Sustainability Council. He said it’s important for students to utilize their voice as it can be effective in making change.

“Penn State is rooted in students,” Seiler said. “The administration is going to listen to their demands. Educate yourself just a little bit and figure out some way to learn about this, because I think it’s one of the more pressing issues.”

According to Seiler, despite claims from Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi regarding institution-wide implementation of sustainability practices and a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035, students don’t feel like they’ve seen actual change.

“A lot of students wonder if they’re promising things and pushing it down the road, and then the students leave, and they don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Seiler said.

He said it seems that everybody who’s working in the climate-action field feels the actual action and actionable support are lacking.

“Students are looking for more support from the university,” Seiler said. “We’re trying to tell the stories that students care about, so we can get more attention.”

Rasha Elwakil, former president of the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA), has a passion for ensuring everyone takes care of the planet.

“We only have one planet,” Elwakil, a third-year studying geography, said. “We need to ensure there’s equitable access to clean [and] fresh air, clean water and overall betterment of life.”

Elwakil said it’s important to explore cities and keep an eye out for areas that may be neglected due to socioeconomic barriers.

“There’s so much pollution in that realm, there’s no greenery,” Elwakil said. “It’s a low-income community. However, no one talks about it because people are not educated on what environmental justice is.”

Having traveled frequently, Elwakil has seen a wide range of differently privileged countries. She said this firsthand awareness makes her uniquely aware of environmental injustice.

“Being a humane person and knowing how much it impacts people [and] seeing that impact it has, you have to have a sense of humanity and say, ‘there needs to be a change’,” Elwakil said.

Mark Ortiz, an assistant professor of geography, said his interest in climate change stems from his years of studying youth climate advocacy efforts globally.

“Climate change is a significant global challenge, and a defining challenge of the 21st century,” Ortiz said. “Growing up in Alabama, I saw a lot of the impacts of extractive economies in relation to coal and industrial development.”

Ortiz is also interested from a research perspective.

“I’ve always been interested in how ordinary people can come together and catalyze change,” Ortiz said. “Whether that’s the policy level, cultural change or how we think about and imagine these issues.”

For Ortiz, climate change matters because its impacts are increasingly severe and define our everyday lives.

“Many people across the world are experiencing the impacts of climate change, whether or not they choose to use that language to describe what they’re experiencing,” Ortiz said. “The reality doesn’t bend to our descriptions. It’s a fact that it’s happening and it’s shaping people’s lives with dramatic impacts.”

Ortiz finds that much of his teaching is a form of advocacy. He said it is important for everyone to be “educated global citizens” and know what is going on in the world around us.

“We need to learn about how people in different contexts are thinking about, experiencing and then advocating for climate policy and green energy transitions,” Ortiz said.

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