I WAS DRAWN to the University because of its excellent reputation. We have always been one of the finest public universities in the nation, serving as a leader in innovation and a leader by example. In my time here, my opinions of what Mr. Jefferson's University stands for had been realized and confirmed. But that all changed this past Monday afternoon.
Since enrolling last fall, I have become involved with the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC), an on-Grounds organization working on the national Campuses Beyond Coal campaign. The campaign is focusing on the dirtiest form of energy that we use in the United States - coal. Coal is a serious detriment to public health. It is the number one source of mercury pollution, which greatly inhibits child development and has led to as many as one in six U.S. women having enough mercury in their bodies to harm an unborn child according to a 2006 Environmental Protection Agency study.
Additionally, pollution from coal plants is a leading trigger of asthma and is linked to respiratory illness, heart attacks and cancer. Therefore, I was surprised to learn that the University still relies on coal as an energy source. Not only that, but our coal plant is right across the street from the nationally renowned University Medical Center and is located in our "Clean-Air Zone" where we prohibit smoking cigarettes yet permit the burning of coal.
I was proud to join the SSC because of its work at universities across the country that still have coal-burning plants on their campuses. So far 16 other universities have committed to moving beyond coal and working for a more sustainable future. We do not want the University to be stuck in the past, but instead want to make sure we can add it to that list of leading institutions as soon as possible.
For the last two years, we have worked to raise awareness on Grounds in the hopes of meeting with President Sullivan to talk with her about publicly committing to a transition off coal usage to clean energy in the near future. On Monday we were able to sit down with Michael Strine, the University's executive vice president and chief operating officer. Going into the meeting I felt confident. We presented him with nearly 3,000 student petitions and handwritten letters demonstrating an incredible level of support from the student body, saying that as one of the best universities we should not be burning coal any longer and should instead be leading the way toward clean and renewable energy.
Following the meeting I was let down. More then let down, in fact - for the first time since I set foot on Grounds I saw mediocrity. Strine told us that burning coal was good enough, that he was satisfied that the on-Grounds coal-fired plant was "as good as it can be." He also emphasized that the University takes sustainability seriously, but that is hard to believe when it refuses to tackle one of its biggest sources of pollution.
I chose to spend my four collegiate years at the University because it is excellent, not because it is "as good as it can be." I came to a university that prides itself on traditions that make it a leader in innovation, a university with the leaders of tomorrow among its student body. It is a university pushing to solve the problems we face, not a university that settles for the status quo, shirking away from positive change.
I still believe we are the school I grew up idealizing and the one I chose to attend. I know we have the leaders of tomorrow here. To hear that Strine and other administrators are not living up to the standards we have set for ourselves for nearly two centuries is infuriating. We do not need to be associated with having the dirtiest source of energy within a few hundred feet of our hospital. We need to let our innovative students and faculty solve the problem, but most importantly we need to live up to our tradition of leadership by having our administrators lead by example.
David Kwon is the coalition coordinator for the Sierra Student Coalition and a second-year College student.
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