With the semester over, I wanted to share with you the social change we’ve made this year.
As the generation inheriting the planet, students care a lot about tackling climate change. That’s why we’ve continued to work to commit Massachusetts to 100% clean electricity, heating, and transportation.
This school year, students across MA generated over 6,000 petition signatures from students, 700 phone calls to legislators, and 200 social media posts in support of the bill.
And we brought this support virtually and in person to the MA State House! We met with 30 legislators to lobby in support of the 100% Clean Act and held a kick off webinar with one of the sponsors of the bill, Rep. Sean Garballey.
And we wrapped up the semester with a major victory- on the 52nd Earth Day, UMass Amherst announced their commitment to 100% clean and renewable energy by 2032! Thank you again for helping us make this happen! We’re excited to keep working together to build a clean energy future here in Massachusetts as we work to pass the 100% Clean Act through the state legislature.
We also worked on other important issues – here are a few highlights:
- In the days leading up to the 2021 local elections, we had 300 one-on-one conversations with students to help them make a plan to vote, made almost 3,000 personal reminders to students, and reached more than 36,000 students through our visibility and outreach efforts.
- Our team of volunteers gathered petition signatures from students, generated phone calls to legislators, and sent in emails in support of the Hunger Free Campus bill. And just a few weeks ago, the bill passed favorably out of committee! Now it is headed to the Ways and Means committee, and will need to pass through the House and Senate to be signed into law.
- During Open Education Week, we signed on 150 professors statewide to consider using low-cost or open textbooks in their classrooms.
- During National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, our MASSPIRG volunteers hosted a dozen events, collecting 1,000 food items for food banks and raising over $3,500 for local shelters and groups working to fight hunger and homelessness.
Thank you for your support of our program – we wouldn’t be able to do this work without all the students who pay their MASSPIRG fee so thanks! Have a great summer!
If you are interested in getting involved, fill out this interest form and we’ll give you a call when next fall semester starts!
Best,
Ashley Agostinelli
State Board Chair
MASSPIRG Students