Reminding everyone of what they do and what VSU President McKinney said, Students Against Violating the Environment has a new website.
S.A.V.E. is an environmental activist organization based on the campus of Valdosta State University (VSU). It is composed of students from all majors, and any VSU student is welcome to join regardless of race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.
The mission of the organization is Continue reading
VSU’s president turns out to be a professor of environmental ethics,
as he reminded us at the
VSU Solar Canopy Ceremony 15 November 2013.
“Anytime we use coal or natural gas we are linked to fracking and of course climate change”; see separate post.
“Making this a green campus”; see separate post.
“I am committed to developing a culture of sustainability on this campus”; see separate post.
Here’s a video playlist:
Continue reading
At
installation of VSU’s solar canopy,
the president of VSU answered
SAVE’s question:
You’ve heard about how these kinds of projects can yield a relatively quick return on investment. And you all need to know that, so long as I am president, I am committed to developing a culture of sustainability on this campus. I do not believe for a moment that environmental sustainability and the long-term economic well-being of the university are contradictory goals.
He offered an autobiographical tidbit:
I began my career in academia… as a professor of environmental ethics. I didn’t leave that behind when moved into the role I’m in now. I still hold dear to that kind of thinking. I still hold dear that kind of open dialog. And I remain committed to these kinds of projects. The sun is something we have in abundance here. And I think it is something we can continue to take advantage of.
Now I will take a little bit of credit. I remember probably the most opposite of the day we have today. Back over the summer, and early in the morning, and it was already extremely hot, and we were walking around trying to decide where we were going to put the array, and we looked a couple of spots, and then we came back here.
And be able to have not only the event that we have today, but I would hope other kinds of events, because I really do see this as a starting point.
He thanked everybody involved, especially SAVE and its president Danielle Jordan for her leadership, and in absentia plant operations.
Continue reading
Dr. Noll remarked on the rain falling and said of the solar canopy:
It’s multipurpose, it provides shade, it provides shelter, and it provides renewable energy, so that makes it really awesome.
He offered as story about events and world population at those times:
1969: Apollo 11 landed on the moon when Dr. Noll was 8 years old
He said we’re entering a second solar age,
the first one being the fossilized solar power of fossil fuels.
He mentioned the solar powered long flights of the
Solar Impulse
airplane as an example of hope, and an example of accelerating change.
Then you know what we are capable of, what we can do.
He concluded: Continue reading
After repeating
SAVE’s request for VSU to
reinvest in more socially responsible options,
Danielle Jordan, President of SAVE, gave one reason why
SAVE supports fossil fuel divestment:
In our fiscally globalized world, our actions don’t stop here. Everything we do affects people half a world away. So anytime we use coal or natural gas we are linked to fracking and of course climate change. But that doesn’t have to be. We can change that. This proves it.
This was at the Solar Canopy Ceremony 15 November 2013. Continue reading
EIC went first, and attached to the agenda for the VSU faculty senate meeting that moved to back SAVE and condemn the position of the Board of Trustees this statement. -jsq
Attachment D
Links and notes from Environmental issues committee
Dl Link to Physical Plant work order form, where the user can tailor the request to a lighting issue: https://tma.valdosta.edu/webtma/GenerateRequest.aspx?key=8fMN5Hy6FywdBGVfahdUsPDaD%2bsth%2bE6fXG%2brkvftJ0%3d
D2
Hello, At today’s EIC meeting, the committee voted on , and passed, the following statement that I am sending onto the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate.
“The EIC moved to agree to the following statement as a committee and to communicate it to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate for consideration:
The EIC as a standing committee of the Faculty Senate supports the efforts of S.A.V.E. (Students Against Violating the Environment) to encourage the VSU Foundation to consider divesting from fossil fuel extraction-based investments.”
If you have Continue reading
SAVE president Danielle Jordan posted on SAVE’s facebook page about an hour ago:
BIG WIN, SAVE!
The faculty senate voted, unanimously, to support our divestment campaign. They also voted to condemn and reject the BOT response letter.
Way to go, everyone! We’re making progress!
S.A.V.E. never gives up, and the VSU Foundation provided fuel for the fight. -jsq
Dr. William J. McKinney
President
Valdosta State UniversityDear President McKinney,
As happy as we are about VSU’s continuing efforts to “go green,” I am writing to you in regard to S.A.V.E.’s ongoing fossil fuel divestment campaign and the recent response we received from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the VSU Foundation. If you have not yet read the letter, I have attached a copy for your convenience.
We were clearly disappointed to hear that
our request had been denied, but what troubled us the most was the condescending tone used by Mr. Edwards in the last part of his letter. To end his letter on University (not Foundation) letterhead with sarcasm and cavalier dismissal of our concerns is unacceptable, especially as we have acted in a respectful manner throughout this process. Within his response, Mr. Edwards downplays the importance of practicing social responsibility and belittles the validity of past divestment campaigns that have been used to counteract injustices such as South Africa’s Apartheid regime, which represented an inhumane and repressive system that needed to be challenged.
We also find Continue reading
Winning PR by losing initial decisions: SAVE‘s doing it right.
Will Lewis write for The Spectator yesterday, SAVE fails to persuade Foundation,
“Compliance with your well-intentioned request is impractical for a number of reasons and perhaps even a breach of the fiduciary responsibility that all of our trustees take very seriously,” the refusal read.
Here’s SAVE’s request, and here’s SAVE’s president’s comment:
Danielle Jordan, senior anthropology major and president of SAVE, said, “There’s a lot of disappointment but we are not going to stop, we don’t see this as the end of our campaign. It lets us know where we stand with the Board of Trustees.”
The VSU Foundation’s Investment Objectives in the Investment Policy and Guidelines states that “Foundation funds should be invested to produce maximum total return consistent with prudent risk limits.”
On the other hand, the VSU Trustee Handbook says the Mission Statement of the VSU Foundation is: Continue reading
