Lauren Snyder

For the majority of our lives we, the students, have been told that it is up to us to save this planet. We have been taught of its impending doom, told of the misery to come, and that the future is inevitable. The pressure has been on us from the beginning. And those responsible for climate change are avoiding blame and the consequences altogether. This needs to change.
The students of St. Olaf are intelligent, hard-working people, who are not afraid to say what needs to be said, and do what needs to be done. We are the future, we know how to better it, but we need the minds and funds to put these into practice. Sorting food waste, sorting trash, enforcing water usage standards, donating meals and other food waste, working together with the farmers of Northfield, and urging the college to divest from fossil fuels, are all things the students here have done and created, and we can do more. We understand environmental racism and the injustice which the college has historically supported in addition to the environmental racism in Minnesota and overall in the United States. Another issue which needs to be addressed. St. Olaf is prideful of the efforts students are making and claiming to listen to change, but we know that their courteous pats on the backs are for show and less and less the efforts are truly taken into account. My goal is to make the Board of Regents and the faculty of St. Olaf truly listen to us as concerned students, not only for our college but for the future that lies ahead of us.
As your environmental senator, I will work hard to bring us together to implement more resources for environmental sustainability, make sure the college is conscientious of their actions and listening to their students, and make St. Olaf a more eco-friendly place for the community here and in the area. I hope to meet with you, the student body, to hear your ideas, and to work together to leave St. Olaf a better place than when we first arrived.