What is MASSPIRG?
MASSPIRG is a statewide student-directed and student-funded advocacy group working to protect the environment, make college more affordable, and help students get registered to vote. We work locally on college campuses, and have professional staff, like organizers, advocates, and lobbyists in Boston and DC, who work with us to make tangible change. We bring issues that happen in the real world to college students so they don’t have to wait until graduation to make a difference.
Why is MASSPIRG beneficial for MCLA students?
We want MCLA students to have the opportunity to be engaged citizens and make a real, tangible difference on issues that matter to us and society. We think that having our voices heard in the broader political process by voting in elections, signing petitions for causes we care about, and gaining leadership skills helps to fulfill this mission, and the mission of our MCLA campus as well.
Beyond making a difference on issues that affect all of us – whether that’s locally, statewide, or nationally – MASSPIRG offers students on campus hands-on training in a variety of skill sets that include public speaking, formal writing, planning events, and working collaboratively with other students and members of the government.
How is MASSPIRG funded and directed?
We are funded by students through a $9 per-student, per-semester waivable fee that appears on your tuition bill. Students first voted to form and fund our chapter in 1983. We pool those resources with other chapters across the state and hire professional staff like organizers, lobbyists, and advocates, who work alongside us to advocate on our behalf, run strategic grassroots campaigns, and win reforms that help improve the quality of life for everyone.
Students make the decisions on what campaigns we run locally and which issues we prioritize statewide. The core group of MASSPIRG students on each campus elect student leaders to represent their campus at the statewide level on our Board of Directors. MASSPIRG is open to any and all students who want to participate. The student body at large has the opportunity to reaffirm their support of funding our own advocacy group every few years.
Learn more about the MASSPIRG fee here
What have we accomplished?
- Increasing the youth vote and civic engagement: We are the largest and most diverse generation alive, and we need to vote to have our voices heard. In the last 15 years, MASSPIRG has helped to register over 45,000 students to vote, including 900 students here at MCLA. We help to increase youth voting by engaging people face to face, over the phone, and through creative social media outreach tactics. In the 2020 elections, we made over 50,000 youth voter contacts across the state, contributing to historic youth voter turnout. This peer-to-peer outreach certainly paid off! Our partners at the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life just released a report showing that student-voting rates at schools with PIRG chapters averaged 71% in 2020. This compares to the national voter turnout rate of 67% for all voters in the 2020 election.
- Tackling the climate crisis: Here at MCLA, we’ve partnered with faculty and student groups to educate hundreds of students about our lead campaign to power MA with 100% clean, safe, renewable energy through announcements in classes and club meetings. The climate crisis is one of the biggest threats our generation faces, especially as we start to live through some of the most extreme weather impacts in our own communities. In the last year and a half, we’ve generated 15,000 signatures in support of passing the bill, including 300 students in the Berkshires! We want to give a big thank you to the professors and student leaders who provided us with time to make announcements about this critical issue.
- Protecting students as consumers: In January 2021, Our advocacy and organizing efforts resulted in the passage of the Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights, which will protect the 855,500 students who have had to take out loans to pay for college from unfair and deceptive lending practices by loan servicing companies. Our professional staff advocates and student leaders testified on Beacon Hill each time this bill came up for discussion. In the final weeks of the legislative session, we delivered letters signed by over 100 student leaders from across campuses in MA to the key decision-makers, including Governor Baker, to get this bill over the finish line.
- Fighting hunger and homelessness: This fall, we participated in Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, a national week of action designed to educate the public, draw attention to the problem of poverty, and build up the base of volunteers and supporters for local anti-poverty agencies. Across Massachusetts, 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. Here at MCLA, we partnered with the Volunteer Center and MCLA Food Pantry to provide resources for students, and invite them to take action in support of the statewide Hunger Free Campus bill, which recently just passed out of committee favorably!
See more victories here: https://masspirgstudents.org/recent-victories/
Get involved:
Want to join our efforts? We’d love to have you!
First, follow us online:
Ready to sign up to volunteer? Fill out this form and we’ll be in touch!
Questions?
If you still have more questions, please contact us here at [email protected]