The University of New Mexico released its first comprehensive Sustainability Strategic Plan on Oct. 28, and with it came a launch of campaigns from students organizing with UNM Leaders for Environmental Action and Foresight.
UNM sophomore and Director of Projects for UNM LEAF Caitlyn Bizzell said she and other members, along with more student groups, participated in the creation of the Sustainability Strategic Plan.
In a statement to the Daily Lobo, UNM Office of Sustainability Director Anne Jakle praised student involvement in the plan.
“It’s great that LEAF and other student groups feel ownership over the Sustainability Plan and helping the University meet its sustainability goals. Students and student groups will be important partners in plan implementation,” Jakle wrote.
Bizzell serves as Director of Environmental Affairs for Associated Students at UNM, where she coordinates student events to raise awareness of sustainability and environmental work on campus, and help students “mitigate their climate anxiety,” she said.
UNM LEAF previously wanted UNM to declare a climate emergency, but this semester they received feedback from UNM administrators that the University will not do so because “it would put a target on their backs,” from the Trump Administration, Bizzell said.
“We've adjusted our position to be encouraging (UNM) to really hone down on their sustainability strategic plan and reduce emissions as much as possible, because those things wouldn't necessarily put them at risk of their funding and much as declaring a climate emergency publicly would,” Bizzell said.
A resolution set to be reviewed by the ASUNM legislature this week, authored by sophomore and UNM LEAF Director of Media Jack Barkhurst and ASUNM Senator Daniyal Hussain, requests the University to “take clear, immediate, and effective action to address the rapidly worsening climate crisis.”
“I'm proud of UNM for coming out with an updated plan. It's the first update that they've had since the 2009 Climate Action Plan and I think it's a huge step forward in UNM addressing the climate crisis, however that's only if they fulfill those commitments,” Barkhurst said to the Daily Lobo.
The 2009 Climate Action Plan was the first UNM plan to outline specific goals to reduce energy usage and the University’s impact on the environment, according to the plan.
UNM LEAF started a petition coinciding with the release of the Sustainability Strategic Plan to demonstrate that students support the university taking climate action and to hold the university accountable, Bizzell said.
UNM LEAF’s campaign includes a demand that UNM reject the Trump Administration’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education if it — or a similar offer — is presented to UNM.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
On Oct. 20, the University of Arizona cited academic freedom as it became the seventh institution to decline Trump’s compact, which offers nine schools preferential consideration for federal funding in exchange for agreeing to a set of policies, according to Reuters.
The compact raises “red flags” as it potentially conflates words with violence, including language that calls on institutions to eliminate departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas,” according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
“(The compact) would restrict free speech and organizing on campus,” Barkhurst said.
In a statement to the Daily Lobo, UNM Executive Director of Strategic Communications Ben Cloutier wrote that UNM has not received the compact.
Other student organizations have endorsed UNM LEAF’s campaign, including the Sustainable Design Collective, Lobo Gardens Club and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, Barkhurst said.
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88
Leila Chapa is the social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
