The University Student Senate unanimously passed Green Fund’s Resolution 005 on April 5, which focuses on environmental sustainability at St. Joe’s and calls for the establishment of an office dedicated to sustainability.
Alexandria Marro ’25, vice president of Green Fund, said Green Fund wants to urge the university to act on climate issues.
“Green Fund is really about environmental sustainability,” Marro said. “The resolution is basically asking SJU to go in and create some environmental sustainability goals and commit to them.”
The resolution calls upon the university to “renew and reaffirm its commitment to sustainability and sustainable practices at all levels,” “establish an inclusive Creation Care Steering Committee” and “establish an Office of Creation Care to oversee the University’s creation care plan and report on the progress of these goals to the SJU community.”
Green Fund was given the opportunity to speak to Student Senate in February and share the organization’s future goals. They also discussed issues with recycling on campus and the university’s carbon footprint and print tracking, according to Emma Hendrickson ’26, sustainability chair for Student Senate.
Clint Springer, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the Institute for Environmental Stewardship and faculty advisor for Green Fund, said while efforts toward sustainability have been made in the past by faculty, such as a similar resolution passed by Faculty Senate in 2019, Green Fund and community members are the leading force with this latest resolution.
“Given my position on campus, I hear from all members of our community, including alumni, that SJU needs to do more in the area of environmental sustainability,” Springer wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk. “So while the resolution was initiated through University Student Senate, I believe that it has wide-spread support.”
Hendrickson echoed this statement, explaining that the students behind the resolution are what have led it this far.
“The idea with this resolution is that it’s coming from students,” Hendrickson said. “The university hopefully will care more about what students care about and what they want on their campus.”
Green Fund plans to bring this resolution to university leadership as soon as they can, Marro said. Marro, Hendrickson and co-presidents of Green Fund, Miranda Oseguera ’24 and Taylor Cromer ’24, have requested a meeting with University President Cheryl McConnell, Ph.D., to discuss future steps.
“If all of the steps outlined are followed by senior leadership, SJU will be on a sustainable path to net zero carbon emissions and waste,” Springer said.