From Oct. 25-28, the entire student body will be able to vote in a campus-wide referendum to renew the Sustainable Projects Fund (SPF), previously known as the Student Sustainability Fund. Each year, there is a $25 fee taken from each student’s tuition to support initiatives by students. If the referendum does not pass, students will not have access to over $40,000 set aside specifically for student use. Chair of Sustainability Virginia Gresham ’17 commented, “The SPF demonstrates how the College back students’ ideas and initiatives. This is just one way that students are supported and encouraged to make sustainable change here on campus and beyond.”
Sustainability is an all-encompassing methodology, so the SPF covers projects that are, in Gresham’s words, “environmentally benign, socially just and economically viable.” Some of the projects that the SPF has funded in the past include Give N Go, the 2013 Umoja Black History Dinner, the Waste/Recycling Bin Standardization Project, a pilot project to recycle food waste at large campus events, hydration stations and the Hodges Square Community Development Gathering.
In the spirit of shared governance, SGA urges each student to vote in the referendum. In addition, Gresham is excited to sit down with any students interested in using the fund to talk about their ideas. “These dynamic opinions and solutions to current issues enable me to evolve my own perceptions about certain situations, as well as help me become a better representative of the student body through SGA,” Gresham expressed.
Students are encouraged to vote through CamelWeb between Oct. 25 and 28. •
