A walk in honor of Earth Day organized by Green Fund led to a sit-in on the steps leading into Regis Hall, the Office of the President. 

About 25 students and five faculty members participated in the April 22 walk, which began at Mandeville Hall, and about 20 students participated in the sit-in. Some students brought signs that had messages advocating for climate justice.

Miranda Oseguera ’24, co-president of Green Fund, said the walk was meant to show campus leadership that students care about sustainability.

“It’s really just to show how much the student body really does want our campus to turn into a more sustainable place,” Oseguera said.

Oseguera said while Green Fund’s recent success in getting Resolution 005 passed was important, there is still more work to do.

Resolution 005 was a proposal passed by the University Student Senate April 5 that urged the university to reaffirm its commitment to sustainability and called for the creation of an Office of Creation Care and a Creation Care Steering Community to monitor the university’s sustainability progress.

“We have given [Resolution 005] to the president and some other people that are higher up, and we still haven’t heard back from them,” Oseguera said. “So, this walk out is just to demonstrate how much our student body is supporting this and how much we want to move it forward and get their attention.”

Oseguera said the resolution is about making St. Joe’s more sustainable.

“We lack in a lot of different areas, so the resolution puts forth this beginning plan to start addressing those issues,” Oseguera said. 

Clint Springer, Ph.D., associate professor of biology, director of the Institute for Environmental Stewardship and faculty advisor for Green Fund, met the students at the sit-in. He said the walk’s peaceful nature was an important part of the message.

“I think that we can always be doing more, and anything that we can do to draw attention to [sustainability goals] is really important, especially something peaceful; something like this where we gather attention, but do it in a way that is responsible,” Springer said.

The sit-in drew attention from St. Joe’s President Cheryl A. McConnell, Ph.D., who spoke with students seated in front of Regis Hall. She said she didn’t know it was a sit-in.

“I came out to have a conversation and support them,” McConnell said.

Sophia Martino ’25, vice president of event planning for Green Fund, said she thinks St. Joe’s needs to be more transparent about its current environmental actions.

“Right now, we don’t know anything about St. Joe’s carbon footprint,” Martino said. “We also have no idea where our recycling is going or what they’re doing with it.”

Benjamin Rodgers ’25 originally attended the event to get extra credit for his environmental science class, but said he began to appreciate the movement’s message as the event progressed.

“Environmental science has opened my eyes to what we’re actually doing with our cars, industrial fuels and everything that is just screwing up the planet…If we all work together, we can turn it around,” Rodgers said. “We just all have to pitch in and, as a team, establish new ways to conserve our energy and save the planet.”

Alex Andahazy ’25 contributed to this story.