Environment // Task Force Leader: Halli Sevilla, hsevilla01@hamlineuniversity.edu

This year on the Environmental Task Force at Hamline, we have been working on a lot of sustainability around campus. Specifically, we are working to ban bottled water sales. The task has been quite difficult considering there are a lot of obstacles involving faculty and student support. We are planning on having multiple tabling events where we will get people to do a taste test and choose which one they prefer: tap, bottled or no preference. Along with this, they will sign a pledge saying that they will make a personally choice not to buy bottled water on campus anymore. We also generated 79 phone calls into Senator Klobuchar's office urging her to protect the Clean Air Act.

We have been attending multiple Sustainability Meetings that include certain Staff Members on campus who have created their own “green team.” They talk about things such as ways to make the campus more sustainable and implementing environmental educational resources for students in the curriculum. By the end of the year we will have created a more sustainable campus and more educated students. Gaining support from students is crucial because once educated, these students can create an environment that they themselves will benefit from.

Democracy // Hamline MPIRG students helped to register young voters across the Twin Cities and partnered with nearby campuses to educate first time voters about the voting process.  In addition to voter registration efforts, HamPIRG students also participated in the Get out the Vote campaign.  On Election Day, students encouraged their peers to vote, helped run poll-line efforts to discourage voter intimidation, and keep people waiting in lines entertained with games and food. 

HamPIRG students engage their peers in the electoral process with a "white board" campaign where students shared their reasons for voting.

HamPIRG students on Election Day helping to Get Out the Vote!

Social Justice // Task Force leaders: Andy Wolf, awolf07@hamlineuniversity.edu, and Nico Wolff, nwolff01@hamlineuniversity.edu

The Social Justice Taskforce at Hamline focuses on creating a better and more equal world for all through reasonable and productive means. We help people through positive social change. To this end, we have worked to get Alta Gracia, a line of sweatshop-free, fair trade clothing, in our bookstore, sponsored a variety of donation drives, as well as Take Back the Night movement along with other groups to promote awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault. This semester we are focusing on defeating the upcoming Marriage Amendment, rallying our support to ensure we beat it. We had a marriage amendment training session co-sponsored with Minnesotans United for All Families, as well as a poetry slam to gain awareness on this issue and kickoff our campaign.  There has also been a large focus on homelessness and housing reforms and we have had several major events around that, namely a housing foreclosure and banking fairness event.

Ben Surma, Co-Chair, bsurma01@hamlineuniversity.edu
Richmond Fiksdal, Co-Chair, rfiksdal01@hamlineuniversity.edu

Regular Weekly Meetings
Tuesdays at 4:05pm in Drew Science Room 6 (in the basement)

Campus Organizer
Joey Dobson, extension 307, joey@mpirg.org

www.Hamline.edu