On March 12, the Student Government Association (SGA) passed a Climate Action Plan Resolution.
Senior Class President Walden Hicks and Sophomore Class President Zayd Salahieh proposed Resolution #08-25 Pepperdine Climate Action Plan to the SGA Senate.
After preliminary discussion and overview for the weekly SGA meeting, President Myers Mentzer called for the authors of the resolution, Hicks and Salahieh, to read and present the resolution to the Senate.
Salahieh introduced the resolution’s first sections.
The resolution states, “Whereas the climate crisis is a significant problem affecting our students, faculty and local Malibu community from drought, extreme weather events, sea level rise, ecological loss and devastating wildfires.”
“This is one first step that I hope future SGA’s run with moving forward,” Hicks said.
Resolution #08-25 calls for Pepperdine to create a Climate Action Plan (CAP) to acknowledge Pepperdine’s role in climate change. This plan entails meeting with administrators such as President Jim Gash, Jay Brewster Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Ricky Eldridge, Director of the Center for Sustainability and others to adjust the current sustainability policy at Pepperdine. The resolution also advocated for the creation of a Pepperdine Sustainability Task Force.
The resolution concludes with, “Be it Further Resolved that Pepperdine University is called on to partner extensively with student, faculty and administrative leaders across all its campuses to craft the Pepperdine Climate Action Plan advocated for in this resolution.”
The Office of the President will formulate The Sustainability Task Force composed of students, faculty and administrators, according to the resolution. Hicks said the task force will be responsible for implementing and discussing new initiatives geared toward reducing Pepperdine’s negative environmental impact on the climate.
Hicks and Salahieh are advocating for a substantiation and proposed action plan with various initiatives the university should put in place regarding adjustments in energy use, increasing carpooling options for commuters and purchasing of local food according to the resolution.
The resolution provides research from various peer institutions such as the University of San Diego, Gonzaga University and the University of California, Los Angeles. Each of these peer institutions has its own Climate Action Plan (CAP) and sustainability task forces. These institutions also acknowledge human-caused climate change according to the resolution.
Resolution #08-25 includes research conducted by Hicks. The three pieces of data collected pertain to students’ agreement and call for Pepperdine and Gash to issue a public acknowledgment and statement recognizing human-caused climate change.
The study included 366 students, with 71% of students agreeing that Pepperdine should issue a statement and acknowledge human-caused climate change. The results of the study also found 12% of students said the university should not publicly acknowledge human-caused climate change.
Mentzer moved the meeting forward after Salahieh and Hicks read the resolution, proceeding with questions and discussion surrounding the resolution.
Sophomore Sen. Charlie Leeds expressed concerns regarding potential increases in tuition and costliness regarding passing the resolution.
“I have not had the chance of fully reading this plan,” he said. “I notice already that this leads to a significant cost to the university. My concern is that this might raise student tuition.”
Hicks said the resolution is mainly advocating for the creation of the Sustainability Task Force and does not specifically focus on tuition or monetary concerns.
“You make a good point, sustainability is all about trade-offs,” Hicks said.
Mentzer moved the meeting along into the discussion period.
“I do not think that climate change is the most pressing issue that our school is facing right now,” Sophomore Sen. Katherine Hsu said.
First-year Sen. Eden Shimanek advocated for the Senate to pass the resolution to bring administrators’ attention to human-caused climate change and the creation of a CAP.
“This may not be the top priority for administration, which is why I think it is important to pass this,” Shimanek said, agreeing with Hsu.
First-year Sen. Jack Quigg seconded Resolution #08-25. During the discussion, Quigg advocated for the passing of the resolution.
“We are here to advocate for the students at the end of the day,” Quigg said. “If 71% of students believe that this is something that should be advocated for, I think we should keep that in mind when voting.”
Leeds said he was concerned about the number of participants in the survey, stating that 366 people are not representative enough of the entire student body.
Senior Sen. Viviana Hernandez advocated for the resolution, stating that the sample size was one of the largest sample sizes a resolution had utilized.
“366 is an incredible sample size of only 4,000 students. We have passed resolutions based on data with less,” Hernandez said.
Hsu continued to push against this resolution.
“I think issuing a grand statement on our school’s website is not necessary,” Hsu said. “They don’t need to address climate change in particular. I just think it’s unnecessary. I wouldn’t say it’s ridiculous, I would just say it’s unnecessary.”
Mentzer then called for the vote. Resolution #08-25 passed with eight in favor, three opposed, and one abstaining.
Junior Sen. Julian Moghaddasi abstained. Senators Charlie Leeds, Katherine Hsu and Sarah Iglesias voted no on the resolution.
After the resolution passed, Hicks and Salahieh said that they will be reaching out to administrators to further discussion around the advocacy resolution.
“I am just hoping it’s brought to the university’s attention that this is something that a significant amount of people on this campus want,” Salahieh said. “I want to leave this campus better than I found it.”
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Contact Cassandra Barron via email: cassandra.barron@pepperdine.edu
