Students and community members assembled on Earth Day in a protest organized by the Students for Environmental Concerns for the University to divest from international fossil fuel companies. SEC united with other University RSOs such as Students for Socialism and Liberation, Young Democratic Socialists of America, Illini Democrats and Amnesty International.
The organizations promoted the protest through an Instagram post stating, “This April 22, we Reclaim Earth Day. We DEMAND U of I DIVEST from fossil fuels and REINVEST in environmental justice initiatives + build relationships with frontline communities.”
Protesters marched at 1 p.m., starting at the Illini Union and traveling to Foellinger Auditorium. Participants held banners that called for the University to divest from fossil fuels and brought attention to the march by organized chanting.
The organizations involved extended the advertisement of the protest beyond their domestic groups to graduate students and the C-U community.
“People are getting together to ask the University to divest their money and resources from fossil fuel companies, which are ruining the planet and are not beneficial to humanity in the future,” said Maura Jackless, a graduate student in UIC Satellite Nursing. “We are trying to get the University to switch over to renewable resources that will not greatly harm the planet.”
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“We are trying to get the University to divest from fossil fuel corporations from their portfolio,” said Gavin Volker, treasurer of YDSA, member of SEC and junior in ACES. “Across the UI system, we have $230 million invested in fossil fuel corporations; these corporations are the ones who are destroying our planet. We need a habitable planet for our next generation, so we are here taking action.”
Those observing the protest on the Main Quad held various perspectives about the University’s investment in fossil fuel corporations — some against the mission of today’s protest.
“We are almost entirely run on fossil fuels at UI from power plants, and all of the steam and radiators that heat the dorms are recycled waste from the power plants,” said Jacob Druckenroad, University alum and chemical engineer in the gas and oil industry. “We would have to completely retrofit the University to heat the buildings.”
In addition to the physical challenges of the University switching to renewable energy, Druckenroad expresses complications regarding the potential loss of opportunities as a result of the divestment of fossil fuel companies.
“I think that what the University is doing now is best for its continuity for cash flow for funding research, student scholarships, faculty salaries and maintenance of the grounds,” Druckenroad said. “Them being involved in fossil fuel industries is not a negative. It does actually allow from a market perspective the type of research and investment to be greener in the future.”
The protest was intended to be a precursor for “Sustainapalooza,” a University-sponsored Earth Day event at 4 p.m. on the Quad.
