February
15, 2002
Pledging
to Make the World a Better Place
It's just twenty-five
words, brief enough to fit on a slip of paper the size of a business
card. But senior class officers are hoping that these few words
will help build responsible citizenship for a sustainable world.
Beginning this week,
members of the class of 2002 are being asked to consider signing
the Graduation Pledge Alliance, adding their names to a growing
movement on college campuses across the United States. The pledge,
in full, reads, "I pledge to explore and take into account
the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider
or any organization for which I work."
Class president Sara
Rummel '02, who announced the pledge campaign at a talk by environmentalist
and author Bill McKibben on Monday, said members of the class
board enthusiastically adopted the idea after it was brought to
their attention by Andrea Ayvazian, the College's dean of religious
life. "It was the sort of thing that we couldn't not do,"
she says. "It ties into the heritage of Mount Holyoke and
the intention of making the world a better place." At the
talk, thirty-nine seniors signed the pledge.
Dina Finkel '02, class
secretary, said, "We are a very cognizant class and aware
of the world around us. This is a tangible way for us to maintain
our ideals. I think this will really inspire us to keep working
for positive change."
Participants will
sign wallet-sized pledge cards, add their names to a book the
class council hopes to have placed in the College's archives,
and wear green ribbons at commencement. The pledge will be printed
in the commencement program. Seniors who want to take the pledge
but missed the opportunity at the McKibben talk will be offered
more opportunities.
That the pledge is
broadly worded will make it more effective over time, by encouraging
each person to set her own guidelines, says Amy Koler '02, vice
president of the class. Rather than defining social and environmental
responsibility, the pledge prompts each senior to consider, "What
does that mean to me?" Koler says. "The message is that
Mount Holyoke women in the class of 2002 think very critically
and seriously about their individual roles in the larger community,"
Rummel says.
Although Rummel, Koler,
and Finkel believe that the spirit of the pledge will resonate
with their fellow seniors, 100 percent participation is not what
they expect and not what they most want. Their greatest hope is
that each student who signs the pledge takes it to heart. "It's
easy to sign and be gung ho," says Koler. "It becomes
more of a challenge as life goes on."
The pledge is in harmony
with the College's commitment to environmentally sustainable development.
Two major building projects, the new science center and the planned
renovation and expansion of Blanchard Campus Center, will meet
the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards
as established by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
In 2000, the College signed the Talloires Declaration of the Association
of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, joining an international
network of more than 270 institutions of higher learning committed
to promoting education for sustainability and environmental literacy.
Last year, some sixty-five
colleges and universities across the United States adopted some
form of the graduation pledge, according to the Peace Studies
Institute of Manchester College, which has helped promote the
movement. Participants have ranged from small colleges such as
Olivet and Skidmore to major universities such as Harvard and
Stanford.
The class officers
hope that the pledge becomes a class tradition. "Idealism
isn't naïve; idealism is a way of life," Rummel says.
"I think that's really true."
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