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WITH THE DEMOLITION OF RYAN FIELD HAVING BEEN SET TO START THIS WEEK, CONCERNS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THIS PROJECT, ARE ONCE AGAIN RESURFACING. JORDAN MUHAMMED, A FOURTH-YEAR FROM THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MEMBER OF FOSSIL FREE NORTHWESTERN, SAYS THAT PUSHING THE UNIVERSITY TO PROVIDE BENEFITS FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS HAS BEEN A MAJOR INITIATIVE FOR THE STUDENT GROUP THIS YEAR.
[Jordan Muhammed] We’ve worked with Evanston in coalition with Evanston organizations on a campaign to get northwestern to, have a community benefits agreement in relation to the stadium, the new Ryan Stadium they’re building. That was another one, even though it wasn’t the full agreements that we wanted, there was a community benefits agreement and included $10 million, for the city of Evanston. And, made some commitments that we were looking for. And that would not have happened if not for that coalition organizing. And then I think those are probably like the two biggest things that we’re working on most recently. And now we are gearing up to launch a new campaign kind of related to our campuses lack of sustainable infrastructure and energy. But we haven’t finalized yet. We’re gonna be launching it soon, so I’ll leave it at that.
IT’S YET ANOTHER EPISODE IN A HISTORY OF STRUGGLES THAT STUDENT AND COMMUNITY GROUPS HAVE HAD WITH THE UNIVERSITY SURROUNDING CLIMATE IMPACT AND POLICY. TO WHAT EXTENT DOES BURNOUT FACTOR IN CLIMATE ACTIVISM ON CAMPUS? AND TO WHAT EXTENT DOES ECO-ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION AFFECT US ALL?
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THE HANDBOOK OF CLIMATE PSYCHOLOGY DEFINES CLIMATE ANXIETY AS A “HEIGHTENED EMOTIONAL, MENTAL, OR SOMATIC DISTRESS IN RESPONSE TO DANGEROUS CHANGES IN THE CLIMATE SYSTEM.” THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION DESCRIBES IT AS “A CHRONIC FEAR OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOOM.” ALTHOUGH NOT TYPICALLY DISCUSSED IN CONVERSATIONS SURROUNDING CLIMATE ACTIVISM AND POLICY, IT IS WIDELY CONSIDERED TO BE A SERIOUS AND TANGIBLE HEALTH-RELATED IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
HERE’S A YOUNG CLIMATE ACTIVIST NAMED LAYLA, IN CONVERSATION WITH NBC’S JULIE TSIRKIN.
[Layla]
THESE SORTS OF FEELINGS CAN CAUSE BURN-OUT FOR ACTIVISTS. TALKING ABOUT KI’S FEELINGS AFTER GAINING FEW CONCESSIONS SURROUNDING NORTHWESTERN’S FOSSIL-FREE ENDOWMENT, MUHAMMED DESCRIBES HOW KI STARTED FEELING DETACHED FROM THE PROCESS OF ACTIVISM.
[Jordan Muhammed] I think I just had been a little bit kind of jaded leading up until then, because it’s just been so hard with this whole fight for divestment. And then the response we get that didn’t really include fossil free in the process. They just kind of responded to all of our organizing. Is was like so weak and isn’t really going to make much of a tangible impact. And, just kind of feeling disillusioned by endowment, which felt like kind of one of the key areas to, like, make an impact. I just was kind of focusing on other things.
AND THE IMPACTS OF ECO-ANXIETY DON’T LOOK THE SAME FOR EVERYONE. ANUSHA KUMAR, A SECOND-YEAR SESPY STUDENT AND MEMBER OF FOSSIL FREE NORTHWESTERN, TALKS ABOUT HOW ECO-ANXIETY MIGHT ESPECIALLY AFFECT LOWER-INCOME OR NONWHITE STUDENTS OR RESIDENTS.
[Anusha Kumar] And I think that, like the mental health impacts of that are like, especially clear for, people who identify as, like, marginalized because it is those communities who are facing the biggest impacts of climate change and who are seeing like the impacts of like environmental racism and things like that, in their own communities and the places that they live]
TIKTOK CREATOR WAWA GATHERU EXTENDS THIS, EQUATING CLIMATE CHANGE AND ECO-ANXIETY IN THAT THEY BOTH DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECT MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES(AND ESPECIALLY BLACK POPULATIONS) DUE TO SYSTEMIC FACTORS.
[Wawa Gatheru]
MUHAMMED AND KUMAR ALSO DISCUSS HOW CLIMATE ACTIVISM CAN BE PARTICULARLY DRAINING AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL, BOTH IN TERMS OF HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE AT AN INSTITUTION LIKE NORTHWESTERN, AS WELL AS THE STRUGGLES OF BEING AN ACTIVIST IN COLLEGE.
[Anusha Kumar] I think there definitely is, because when you like, think about like even things like divestment, it’s not really like the board of investors who are making those decisions. It’s the board of trustees who have complete control over basically, like everyone in the northwestern community. And then like you take a look at, like, who’s on the board of trustees and it’s like, oh, it’s a lot of like white males and a lot of like people with power and people who are wealthy and people who are like alumni and like alumni, and like, has donated to the school for like years and years. And how like something that I kind of think about as, like, how would I even, like, go about changing that? So that can be overwhelming at times because it’s like, well, no matter like what I do, there’s always like this big group of like, you know, 60 plus people who are making these decisions.
[Jordan Muhammed] I think there’s a big sense that a lot of people I think that’s just a general trend I see here at northwestern, is that there are very few seniors that I have ever seen involved in organizing, here in Worcester. And I think a lot of that has to do with, with burnout, like you’ve been doing this for three years and you haven’t gotten the things you wanted to see that happen with.
BUT JACK JORDAN, PART OF NORTHWESTERN’S GRADUATING CLASS OF 2022 AND CURRENT MEMBER OF CLIMATE ACTION EVANSTON, SAYS THAT STUDENT ACTIVISM OFFERED SOME OF THE MOST IMPACTFUL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTIVE HE’S FOUND:
[Jack Jordan] And I think a big thing, I tell you, I just thought, I think certainly you should know is that there are many more avenues, at least from my experience, there are many more avenues for activism as a student than there are when you’re in the real world. And I think a key part of that is that there are avenues for local activism, because local activism. Excellent. That’s what students are doing in Western, and that’s students at every university are doing these are these are actions are taking in their own backyard. With the university essentially being there, almost local government.
KUMAR ECHOES THIS, SAYING THAT STUDENTS’ INVESTMENT IN A COLLEGE COMMUNITY CAN OFFER THEM A SPECIAL ROLE IN SHAPING THE CULTURE AND POLICY OF THEIR UNIVERSITY.
[Anusha Kumar] But at the same time, I think the way that I kind of get over that is that at least when you are like an undergrad. Student specifically, and you are paying tuition at the school in some way. You have a unique power to create change and to disrupt systems, in a way that, like no other stakeholder at a university can. And so while I’m here, I’m really trying to take advantage of that role, trying to take advantage of that agency, and helping like, and just like communicating that with other students here who are feeling hopeless about, like, things that are happening at northwestern, but also like in the broader community, or like in the broader society, like you people have so much agency and especially when you were a student, there’s so much power with that.
[ambient room noise]
JOEL FREEMAN, CO-CHAIR OF CLIMATE ACTION EVANSTON, SAYS THINKING ABOUT SMALL ACTION OFFERS HIM WAYS FORWARD THROUGH BURN-OUT AND ANXIETY.
[Joel Freeman] And I think sometimes people, people think that just because they’re an individual, they can’t have an impact. And, and I try and remind them, like, Look, you didn’t elect a president, or a whole giant group of people. And, you know, when it comes to, like, the example of electric electric vehicles, you know, one person doesn’t change the industry, but a whole group of people can transform the marketplace. And so if you’re part of that group, you are contributing.
JACK JORDAN ECHOES THIS, SAYING THAT THINKING AT THE LOCAL OR COMMUNITY LEVEL IS HOW HE TAKES ACTION WITHOUT FEELING OVERWHELMED.
[Jack Jordan] That’s why I think it’s like so important about mental activism and that through my local activism, my actions, almost like most of my actions, seem to improve the situation I am, I can I notice, change at a rate that’s like satisfying to me? I can kind of make sense. Like I really, actually haven’t checked. Surely in a Western, that’s like a hard thing. But in dealing with like transition to a minimum, a community level, it just seems like there’s much more work needs to be done. And there’s, there’s kind of a power vacuum as opposed to the university where it’s like a highly, hierarchical power structure, where kind of the university sort of charge everything, and you and you’re just, you know, kind of like an ant trying to move mountains and community level. It’s kind of like you’re more in a sandbox because there’s not great stuff happening. And the guy in at least departments in government is like encouraging other like, hey, you need help? Whatever you can do is great. And I feel like that and a good feeling because there’s so much that needs to be done. And every time you focus on one of those things, it feels like, wow, okay, we made a difference there. What’s next? And that kind of keeps you from feeling demoralized because you see your value and you can go even in small ways. You’re you’re creating change.
MUHAMMED IS HOPING TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH AS AN ACTIVIST AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AS WELL, AS KI TRANSITIONS BEYOND THE UNIVERSITY ECOSYSTEM.
[Jordan Muhammed] I think a lot of the work that I’ve done at University has been thinking about an institution. And I suspects that will not be the first way that I’m like the work that I want to do kind of career wise is more interested in well, what can we as a community create, which I think I’m really excited to do, I think feels a little bit harder at college institutions where there’s not that long term commitment and like, we weren’t going to be out of here in four years. It’s kind of hard to build things. And there’s the time is just the biggest difficulty of being a student organizer, especially here at Northwestern or everyone’s doing a million and a half things. So, yeah, I think that’s going to be a difference that I am excited for.
[ambient nature sounds, talking/community sounds]
FOR WNUR NEWS, I’M PAUL O’CONNOR
