Skidmore鈥檚 Environmental Action Club
The Environmental Action Club (EAC) promotes climate consciousness and sustainable literacy in the Skidmore student body. In the fall semester of 2024, the EAC鈥檚 three main initiatives were getting students registered to vote, creating recommendations for the College to use in its new strategic plan, and supporting local non-profits with their environmental activism. Margot Kelly and Grace Coale are co-presidents of the EAC. The club has about fifteen members who participate in weekly meetings and an email list of 200+ students that attend the club鈥檚 events designed to engage the broader Skidmore community. Kelly comments, 鈥渢he EAC offers an in-between platform where we facilitate communication and transparency about what the school has and has not done in terms of sustainability and climate action for the Skidmore student body. The EAC enforces a direct dialogue between what the administration is doing and what students want for sustainability.鈥�
EAC members at Fall Fest
One of the Environmental Action Club鈥檚 primary accomplishments from this past fall was writing a white paper for the Skidmore Administration with their recommendations for the College鈥檚 new strategic plan. EAC club leaders met with Skidmore President Marc C. Conner and Vice President for Strategic Planning and Institutional Diversity Joshua C. Woodfork to discuss their recommendations, and they hope to see them implemented throughout 2025. The EAC also plans events alongside other clubs to engage the wider Skidmore community in sustainability, including Fall Fest during the first semester and Earth Day in the spring semester. During the 2023-2024 school year, the EAC brought students to New York City to participate in the March Against Fossil Fuels. The EAC also goes to the Idea Lab every semester to do fun sustainability related craft projects.
Kelly highlights the vital role that the Environmental Action Club plays at Skidmore, explaining, 鈥淪kidmore students really care about climate change, but they do not know how to implement that in their lives or reckon with that. I prioritize EAC being a place where students can engage with and have these conversations. Going forward, I would also love for EAC to work with bodies at Skidmore that have more power, like the Student Government Association and the President's Cabinet so that we can make more tangible changes.鈥�