Inspired by the recent March on Climate Change in Washington, D.C., which drew 40,000 people, more than 30 Brandeis students staged an on-campus march for climate change awareness on Monday.
The group, singing joyful songs about the environment and playing instruments, marched from the top of the Rabb Steps to the Bernstein-Marcus administrative building on lower campus around noon.
“We hope that [the march] will raise awareness for climate change issues at Brandeis by showing the solidarity and unifying quality of what’s going on environmentally, and hope that in joining together in the march we can more effectively bring together our energy and voices to actually promote change,” Maura Boughter-Dornfeld ’14, one of the event organizers, said.
“Climate change is already devastatingly affecting millions around the globe, that aren’t nearly spoken about enough, and it is impossible to defeat it with only a specific group of us. Climate change is going to literally wipe away the world we’re used to, and it is up to all of us to work together to find solutions,” Boughter-Dornfeld added.
In addition to Students for Environmental Action (SEA) programming, Brandeis students have become involved in the divestment movement, through Students for a Just and Stable Future (SJSF). Several members of SJSF had been arrested while protesting the Keystone XL pipeline. They are also fighting for Brandeis and other campuses to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.
“The march was to raise awareness and get people talking about divestment. More importantly, to me, the march embodies a first step in helping return Brandeis to its radical roots,” Andrew Nguyen ’15, an organizer, said.
“It’s a step toward moving toward a culture on campus where people feel empowered and able to express their feelings out in the open. To embodying our beliefs into our actions.”
The march showed solidarity along with 250 other college campuses on a National Day of Action against the use of fossil fuels.
“There is power in numbers, and this is a topic that needs such power. The idea of the march and the campaign in general is to educate and unite the student body here at Brandeis to combat climate change and partake in our responsibility of social justice,” Boughter-Dornfeld said.
