Students participate in march for climate change
(Student Environmental Alliance) || Members of Take Back the Tap and Student Environmental Alliance traveled to New York City for the People’s Climate March on Sept. 21. Both groups are actively working towards making Mt. Pleasant a cleaner, more eco-friendly campus.
Climate change is increasingly becoming a large issue for countries across the globe. With rising sea levels depleting island nations, action needs to be taken.
On September 21, students from the Student Environmental Alliance, Campus Grow, Take Back the Tap, Student Government Association and the Wildlife Society organizations participated in the largest environmental climate march in history. Nations around the world are feeling the impacts of climate change, and influential countries are doing little to stop it.
Over 700 organizations from around the country gathered for The People’s Climate March in the streets of New York City. The United Nations met in the city to discuss actions regarding climate change around the world that day, a reason why the march occurred.
“The experience I had was truly inspirational,” Vincent Roncelli, president of the Student Environmental Alliance and Armada senior, said. “It was very important to see people from not only Central Michigan University come together around climate change.”
Climate change is not only about the environment, Roncelli said.
“It was very important for members of our groups to see that climate change is affecting people from all walks of life,” he said. “You don’t have to be a “tree-hugger” to care about the climate.”
Participating in the march inspired Roncelli. With over half a million people in the streets of New York City, the cry for change was heard.
“It left me feeling like we could do anything,” Roncelli said. “I have never seen so many people come together.
Working with others to connect to one specific issue is what motivated Student Environmental Alliance member and Detroit senior Mariah Urueta.
“In my opinion it is one of the greatest things to see and work with individuals who are trying to connect the issue of climate devastation with other justice based issues,” Urueta said. “Moreover, these students are then doing the necessary work to support these impacted communities after they make this connection.”
Attending the march was important to Urueta, especially by connecting the global climate issues locally to Michigan.
“The best part about the march was getting passionate people together who are engaging in the struggle from different places in the world,” she said. “For many first time protestors, this was a good first step towards radicalization.”
Perry Senior and Vice President of Take Back the Tap Lisa Conine enjoyed how organized the march was. She said it did not feel too disruptive to a normal day in New York.
“They had a specific section for the Anarchists groups and they were the ones making the most noise and actually breaking bikes out of the bike share and were giving them away to homeless people,” Conine said. “That was fun to see things get a little rowdy and gain more attention.”
Bonding and creating history with students is what Conine enjoyed the most.
“The march left me encouraged and inspired,” she said. “It helped our group bond and made everyone feel like we were a part of history together. Direct action has strengthened our group.”
