There will be a climate strike happening on Sunday at noon in front of Alma Mater. You need to show up. This is why.

The University is lying to you; its administration is failing to account for your future and mine. But now is the time to fight harder for our environment than we ever have before. This is the time to get pissed off.

Firstly, the University endowment systems hold some $230 million invested into companies that profit from the extraction, refinement, sale or transport of fossil fuels. This is outrageous and disastrous not only for the planet but for our future. It is fundamentally not what this University says it stands for. Our University has, on all counts, failed to be accountable. 

The University claims to be “dedicating its brightest minds and resources toward prioritizing the environment in everything we do” on the Student Engagement page of the Office of Student Sustainability. This is a lie. 

The University should be making larger strides toward sustainability considering the climate crisis that we are in, whether it be investing in crumbling bike infrastructure on campus or shutting down the existing coal-fired power plant and transitioning to renewable sources of energy.

Secondly, the University has already committed to fully divesting from fossil fuels by the fiscal year of 2025 in objective 9.1 of a nonbinding agreement called the iCAP, or Illinois Climate Action Plan, a short two years away. This is a promise that is not on track to be completed. This climate strike is also about holding the University administration accountable for what they say and agree to.

Thirdly, is it our duty as students — and the ones who will have to live through the world with the choices made by others — to fight for what is right and what is just.

We must not forget that we as students have an active voice on this campus. But it only happens if we choose to have one. It’s very easy to get lost in the idea that the administration doesn’t listen or that they can wait out students. But it’s absolutely crucial that the student body fights for the changes we want to see on our campus. If not for us, then for the future students who come after. 

That is why you need to join the strike. 

It is about stating our disagreement with the institution that we are stakeholders of. It is about holding the University administration accountable for what they say and do. It is about fighting for those who cannot — because it is the right thing to do. I hope you join us. 

Go green or go home.

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