St. Thomas University Students Rally for Divestment
Fredericton, New Brunswick—Students for Sustainability and the Divest STU Campaign led a divestment rally on St. Thomas University’s campus this past Friday. This rally was a call for the university to stop investing in the fossil fuel industry. Many universities across the globe have already pulled investment from fossil fuels and reached carbon neutrality, and students would like STU to do the same. Divest STU is run by Kelly Green and Students for Sustainability by Tyler Dupuis and Grace Hickey. Tyler says, “Sustainability and divestment is important because both of them involve the future, right? And it’s important nowadays because it’s our future, you know, it’s personal.”
The university currently invests approximately $884,000 into fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal companies. Divest STU argues for the reallocation of these funds toward sustainable development and renewable energy sources. By doing so, St. Thomas can support cleaner energy that has less negative effects on the planet, as many students learn about in classes at the university. Kelly Green asserts, “As a liberal arts university, they teach us about how the climate crisis affects every field. So for St. Thomas itself to directly invest into fossil fuels seems a little hypocritical to me, so I’m really calling on St. Thomas University to divest because it’s their moral and ethical responsibility.”
Kelly Green speaks on the importance of divestment and the progress St. Thomas University has been making in reaching this goal. (Erin Hurley/STU Journalism)
Tyler Dupuis references the importance of divestment in light of climate change: “Sustainability is important because, I mean, looking at the climate crisis… to think that sustainability is not the future, I think, personally, would be a mistake—to think that it’s not part of the solution.” Ultimately, divestment is a necessary step in preventing the worsening of climate change. Tyler reflects, “How do we reach sustainability? Well, divestment is just one of those ways.” Tyler, Grace, and Kelly would like to inspire action in the students and, hopefully, in school administrators as well. Tyler notes, “The goal for the rally today was definitely to invigorate students. To start a conversation, not only here on campus, but to make the university notice.”
Students held signs in protest of the institution’s investment into the fossil fuel industry. (Erin Hurley/STU Journalism)
Kelly Green would like divestment to be achieved by her graduation date, and she is in her fourth year at St. Thomas University. She believes she can reach this goal if people continue to rally and protest for the cause. She says, “I think divestment here at STU is close. There has been a lot of uptake especially in faculty support, and Dawn Russell has been very receptive of St. Thomas and she’s been keen to learn more about it. The investment committee has been talking about it; it’s been on their radar.”
Student Jonathon DesRoches flips through the flyer on divestment. (Erin Hurley/STU Journalism)
It is not just the investment committee that has noticed the support for divestment, but other groups as well. As Green declares, “It’s on the radar of just about every group here on campus, so I do think it’s very close. And rallying for support is one of the most essential things that we haven’t been able to do yet, and now we’ve finally got to do it, so I think it’s really gonna help.” Divestment is just one step in the fight towards reaching a more sustainable future. It is time we all embrace this future, and it would be really special to see St. Thomas University helping to lead the fight against fossil fuels and the climate crisis.
