As college-age people continue to be engaged in climate activism and environmental initiatives, the University of Oregon community continues to cultivate communities for discussion, outreach and advocacy.
Net Impact
Net Impact is a student-run sustainable business club that meets on Thursdays in Lillis 162. Michael Yoo, president of Net Impact, said there is no application or initiation process; students attain membership after attending a certain number of meetings. There are no membership fees or dues.
Yoo is now in his third year as a member — and his first as president. While acknowledging the cliche, Yoo said what makes the club great is the people.
“Having a group with very like-minded interests and passions helps you to really manifest the change that you want,” Yoo said.
Yoo said Net Impact is “action and experience oriented.” The club organizes multiple networking trips each year and puts together seminars, mixers and other social impact projects. This year, the networking trips will be to Seattle at the beginning of winter term and Bend at the end of winter term.
Yoo hopes Net Impact can help reform the ways in which business is practiced and be a part of building trust between business people and environmental advocates.
“People can view business as a very superficial, material type of sector,” he said. “At the business school, there’s a huge importance on profitability [and other] concepts that don’t really resonate with people.”
Climate Justice League
Climate Justice League is an ASUO-funded student-run activist organization that meets in Gerlinger 242 at 6 p.m. every Tuesday. It has three subcommittees: Forest Defense, Fossil Free UO and podcasting.
At the beginning of each meeting, the whole group discusses current and upcoming events. Then, the facilitators of each subcommittee state their plans for the meeting and they break out into separate rooms. In those breakout rooms, the subcommittees plan activism-oriented events and projects.
Steering committee member Courtney Kaltenbach said CJL employs what it calls an anti-hierarchical structure led by a steering committee. The committee is made up of student facilitators who organize and run meetings but have no tangible authority over the rest of the club members. The steering committee pools together all of its stipends from ASUO and uses the money for the club.
Kaltenbach also said that if an attendee doesn’t like a certain subcommittee or just wants to experiment, they have the freedom to participate in the other breakout rooms in future meetings. There is no application process or membership obligation. Students and community members can show up to meetings and, if they don’t like it, can stop going at any point.
Student Sustainability Center
The Student Sustainability Center is located in the EMU and is home to information about clubs, events and programs regarding sustainability. During the pandemic, several clubs suspended or terminated operations, many of which have not reopened yet. CJL and Net Impact are two organizations that are confirmed to be currently active. Students can find updates on the status of various organizations by visiting the SSC.
The SSC also plans events for the student body. The annual ones include the Student Sustainability Fair, Earth Week and Transportation Day. Information about other events is available in the SSC and on its website.
In addition to club information and events, the SSC also runs several programs to help students get involved. These include waste reduction initiatives like Bottles Up, SSC Reusables and Fix-it Fairs; food security initiatives like helping students apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and produce drops; and the Grove Community Garden, a community space for students to grow food and practice gardening.
