The EMU Climate Strike took place on Friday, Oct. 14 in Thomas Plaza. The strike, sponsored by the Earthkeepers, offered hopeful stories about climate change.
Earthkeepers leadership team members Micah Buckwalter, Zach Bauman, and Ally Welty Peachey said the group focused on hope because people tend to get bogged down in focusing on the negative aspects of climate change. Focusing on hope can encourage people to keep pushing for important things such as fewer pipelines, renewable energy, and smaller, individual actions.
Bauman opened up the strike and introduced what the event would look like: people sharing their stories of hope with climate change.
Buckwalter shared next, telling the story of how he interned with Mennonite Central Committee in Washington, DC over the summer. He worked with climate advocacy and saw hope through the President signing the Inflation Reduction Act at the end of the summer. According to Buckwalter, this is one of the largest climate investment bills ever passed in US history.
Other stories included faculty member Wendell Shank sharing how biking to work every day helps him feel more connected to his community.
Climate Ambassador Jaden Jones shared how her family transformed their backyard by planting native Pennsylvania flowers and completely getting rid of the grass.
Mesa Dula, Ben Alderfer, and Nathan Oostland shared about the benefits of thrifting their clothes and how they see hope through it becoming more popular.
Doug Graber Neufeld, EMU professor and director of Anabaptist Climate Community (ACC), shared how he sees hope through Anabaptist organizational leaders showing up to an ACC conference because they felt that climate change affects vulnerable communities.
VACA professor Steve Johnson shared how the proposal to build the Atlantic Coast pipeline was canceled through community, collaboration, and policy.
Finally, Buckwalter closed out the event by sharing a story of hope that directly affects EMU. A few years ago, EMU had a Sustainability Coordinator Position. When the person holding the position left the job, administrators closed the position. At the Earthkeepers strike last year, one of their key demands was to bring back the position. After the strike, Buckwalter and former Earthkeepers leaders met with President Susan Schultz-Huxman and a few other key administrators to discuss bringing the position back. A few weeks ago, Buckwalter got the news that reopening the position has been approved and the school will begin interviewing candidates shortly.
Finally, Earthkeepers leaders want to make sure this climate strike continues to happen in the future. It happened four years ago and then missed a year because of Covid. Last year they brought it back and they plan to make it an annual event.
