This week’s Campus Celebrity is Nora Stoelting! The senior Environmental Studies major with minors in Peace and Justice and Political Science is very involved with our impact on Mother Earth.
What are you involved with on campus?
I’m involved in various activities including Green Up, Food for Thought, Outdoor Volunteer Efforts, Wilderness Program, and the divestment campaign: Fossil Free SMC.
What is the divestment campaign?
Divestment is a national campaign amongst college campuses to pull our investments out of the fossil fuel industry and reinvest in more socially responsible businesses. Our aim is to remove our school’s investments in the fossil fuel industry. It’s exciting to be a part of a mass movement amongst youth advocates fighting for a more just and sustainable world.
What can the St. Mike’s community do to help with these efforts?
We believe that our school’s investments should match the school’s social justice mission and stand up for vulnerable communities for whom climate change is a real and imminent threat. The idea is not really to kill these companies financially, but to reinvest in our community through local banks or energy efficiency projects on campus because those investments will make a huge difference. A resolution through the SA was just passed October 29th!
Why is it important for students to know about these issues?
Through this campaign we’re standing up for our future and future generations. If we continue to blow off the tops of mountains and frack the ground so we can sit back and drive our cars, there will be no world for us to appreciate.
What would you like to do in the future?
I hope to join the Peace Corp to return to one of my favorite places in the world, Tanzania.
Why Tanzania?
I spent last fall semester in Zanzibar, Tanzania on an experiential learning program through SIT. I was studying what makes student-run environmental clubs successful or not on the island. I helped the Prospective Learning and Charitable Institution create their own environmental club and in doing this, worked to break down barriers between teachers and students as well as between locals and foreigners. These barriers were found to be obstacles to students facilitating the club on their own and it was really exciting to see how they developed as a group and grew to take ownership of the club.
What were the results of your project?
They cleared vacant land to make a community garden. This garden, I found, became wildly successful after I left. If I were to go back, I would like to continue to work with the students at this school because I really connected with them. I want to be able to somehow work with people rather than for them about environmental education or environmental justice projects.