Title: Georgetown Students Collaborate with DC Universities for Worldwide Climate Teach-in

The first event of the teach-in brought together student speakers from Georgetown’s DC and Doha, Qatar, campuses. Catie Malone (SFS’23) and Candice Powers (C’22) engaged in the dialogue between the students and reported on both campuses’ strategies for implementing environmentally friendly practices.

It was important to understand the unique, yet similar environmental and sustainability challenges that students and faculty see in both locations. In Qatar, for instance, [Senior Assistant Dean for Research Support] Dr. Kai-Henrik Barth spoke about his frustration with neighbors who power wash their automobiles each day, while student Dalva Raposo (SFS’24) — a sophomore in Doha — explained the difficulty of introducing clothing swaps to her peers who have never been exposed to thrift stores. Brook Hodge (SFS’24) contributed some of her personal findings after experiencing GREEN’s questioning regarding how to best encourage students to partake in clothing swaps on Georgetown’s main campus.[…] It was incredible to see students from the same school, yet half a globe apart, working through solutions to similar problems they were experiencing.

Students participating in the virtual event also had the chance to discuss progress they would like to see on their own campus, explained Malone and Powers. In small breakout groups, participants compared challenges unique to each campus, as well as the common obstacles to creating change.

It is essential that students and faculty alike don’t settle for mere showmanship, but rather push for lasting, institutional change from their universities. Georgetown has made significant progress and is showing increased commitment to acting on climate change, but there is still much to do.

Georgetown’s contributions to the climate teach-in took advantage of the weekly farmers’ market in Red Square, where students from a variety of Georgetown student groups set up a table to answer shoppers’ questions about climate justice. In his report, Pace Schwarz (C’23) was impressed by the myriad student organizations and university initiatives working on different aspects of climate change, from the Earth Commons Institute and the Office of Sustainability to the Georgetown Renewable Energy and Environmental Network (GREEN) student group.

Alongside local businesses selling bao buns, burgers and baklava, and student groups selling lemonade and bubble tea, Georgetown’s many environmental advocacy and action clubs set up shop to get their messages out. Fitting the Hilltop’s MO, the first two tables belonged to political action groups recruiting members for campus events, letter-writing campaigns and local volunteering opportunities.[…] Clearly, Georgetown’s focus on government, foreign service and public policy shapes many Hoyas’ approach to climate activism.

Students from all nine DC universities subsequently gathered at George Washington University to share local climate action initiatives based on campuses and in the city. Cristina Canora (C’22) felt emboldened by the dedication of student activists.

Gallaudet University’s Matthew Thompson shared several student-led initiatives on campus, such as improving the quality of water from water fountains and installing a green roof to reduce stormwater runoff. He also mentioned two student organizations, Green Gallaudet and Gally Gardens, that collaborated to plant trees, 3,000 strawberries, squash and more. 

Aissa Dearing-Benton is the director of sustainability and president of the Climate Change Club at Howard University. Dearing-Benton shed light on the environmental issues that disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income communities, specifically DC’s own Ward 7 and 8. The Department of Sustainability at Howard works to advance environmental justice on and off campus by hosting panel discussions, cleaning up the Anacostia Watershed and supporting a food pantry and community garden on campus.

Each presenter contributed a unique and valuable perspective that collectively evoked an optimism that is often overshadowed by climate anxiety in these conversations. The dedication of these students to climate action on their respective college campuses makes me hopeful that we are not doomed. 

Programming during the teach-in took a number of forms, which were designed to spur thought and discussion. An exhibition in Lauinger Library, Environmental Graphiti, displayed student art engaging with climate and an EcoArt walk reinterpreted climate data through digital painting. Gillian Meyers (SFS’23) described how the vivid artwork spread throughout campus helped change student engagement with scientific data. 

“Sources and Sinks,” found in the Leavey Center, graphs the growing gap between carbon emissions and carbon sinks, or natural environments that can absorb excess emissions from the atmosphere. Jagged black lines chart the amount of carbon in the atmosphere against a background of viridescent green, ultramarine and swirls of gold. 

Though these pieces might initially seem abstract, with all interpretation left up to the viewer, their vibrancy draws in passersby and compels them to notice the meaning behind each piece, supplemented by helpful explanations and statistics in the descriptions below each work of art. Instead of boring the viewer with the same depressingly overwhelming graphs, Environmental Graphiti communicates urgency compellingly, spurring us to take action.

Ted Atwood (SFS’23) found a similar benefit in the curated Core Pathway on Climate Change exhibit of student art, also held in Lauinger. 

Crowdsourced and curated voluntarily from students enrolled in the Core Pathways program, the gallery welcomed submissions “ranging from original work, to credited links to work from artists, authors, scientists, philosophers, etc.” This open concept approach meant that the gallery (as well as its online companion) contains detailed analysis by students and experts well versed in specific climate topics, to works of art meant to convey raw emotions and feelings on the various events and consequences of the climate crisis.

The teach-in culminated on April 1 at Howard University in a large all-schools gathering that provided a space for university representatives and climate activists Bill McKibben and Kari Fulton to synthesize takeaways from the week’s discussions and approaches to engagement with climate and justice. Sophia Green (SFS’23) and Peter Deck (SFS’23) stressed the value of bringing together practitioners from multiple fields and schools to learn from common approaches.

The event began with each member of the panel sharing their own institution’s attempts at addressing climate change, and it quickly became clear that each had quite different approaches and that they rarely communicated their methods to one another. 

It took significant student protest to promote and succeed in the divestment initiatives at several institutions. Though methods varied greatly across the institutions and some specificity regarding concrete university-led plans was lacking, one point was clear: these universities are acutely aware that they need to be doing something about climate change, and they cannot do that alone. 

Abigail Orbe (C’23) and Marty Salamone (SFS’22) took a similar lesson away from the final event, DC Climate Convergence, which challenged audience members to find sustainable approaches to climate change rooted in social justice.

Throughout the cross-campus discussion, university leaders emphasized the importance of linking campus infrastructure projects, student advocacy and learning in the classroom. 

Kari Fulton ponders how we can move from an extractive economy to a restorative one. How we can continue to grow sustainably, in ways that support marginalized communities. How we can come together for a healthier future. 

Fulton left the audience inspired and thinking harder than ever: how can we acknowledge the past, move forward with our ancestors’ wildest dreams and think bigger?