We hope you are all staying safe and healthy during this time. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, we at the Green Fund recognized the disproportionate impact the crisis was having on low-income communities and communities of color. The Green Fund is committed to promoting environmental justice through practices that build healthy communities and support vulnerable populations. As members of the Wesleyan community, we felt it was our responsibility to do what we can to embody this message by donating $8,000 of our budget to Qualified Disaster Relief Stipends.
Please look through our Resources page for more information about environmental justice!
Wesleyan University Green Fund
Qualified Disaster Relief Stipends Informational Letter
By Shaya Tousi (‘22), Claudia Stagoff-Belfort (‘21), Syed Hussain (‘21), Catherine Xi (‘21), Andrei Pinkus (‘21), Phoebe Landsman (‘21), Oriana Tannenbaum (‘20)
This document sets out to explain the Green Fund’s reasoning for allocating $8,000 of our fiscal 1 year 2020 budget directly to Qualified Disaster Relief Stipends through the office of Financial Aid. This decision has come after an extensive process of reviewing our finances and ensuring all ongoing and upcoming spring and summer projects are accounted for in our calculations. These funds would be allocated to the 282 students who have been identified by Wesleyan’s Financial Aid office as ‘highest need’: those who have $0 in Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and the minimal $1,200 in student contribution. The Green Fund has made this decision in accordance with our commitment to the philosophy of environmental justice.
We define environmental justice as practices that build healthy communities and support the most marginalized members of those communities. Action and work towards promoting environmental justice takes into account the disproportionate burden that environmental issues place on vulnerable populations. Environmental justice provides a framework of understanding in which the promotion of livelihood only stems from the protection of all members of a community.
Reasoning: The Green Fund has spent a great deal of time discussing this issue. We have unanimously come to the decision that this is the best use of our selected funds and that this decision fits well within the mission of the Green Fund in its focus on environmental justice. We believe that this is an opportunity for us to demonstrate to the student body the inherently interconnected nature of environmental justice, equity, and the building of sustainable and resilient communities, especially in the wake of a significant crisis which poses not only economic but also environmental challenges. As to why this is important and fits with our mission generally:
Environmental justice and equity:
This is an environmental justice issue: Creating sustainable communities is a core part of long-term sustainability. For long-term sustainability, it is crucial to create resilient communities that have the resources to sustain themselves. Environmental sustainability takes into account natural resources but it also considers how people can have thriving lives and be able to support themselves with their current abilities. This can occur through infrastructural change, such as developing affordable housing, or short-term aid, such as diverting the Green Fund resources to FGLI students so that they can help pay for their rent, their food, or other living costs to sustain themselves now.● Supporting vulnerable students: We need to support our most vulnerable students in order to foster a sustainable community at Wesleyan. Resilience and community building are inherent parts of environmental justice. In this current situation, this means supporting the highest need students in our community. Essentially, what we are doing is very similar to the function of a disaster relief fund when a hurricane or tsunami hits. The safety and security of every member of a community must be ensured in order for an entire community to be sustained—the same is true for the Wesleyan community.
Student health: Our decision acknowledges that the effects of environmental devastation are felt unevenly throughout the U.S. and often disproportionately affect low-income communities, especially when it comes to public health issues, which are fundamentally environmental concerns.
Impact and Scope: These are essential criteria that guide every approved proposal. Allocating money to the Qualified Disaster Relief Stipends will have a significant and positive impact on the Wesleyan community while serving as an opportunity to extend our reach. In this way we intend to put into practice our commitment to environmental action through a framework of equity.
There is a large student consensus and broader community consensus around mobilizing support to those Wesleyan community members most affected by COVID-19.
This funding will impact a wide range of members of the Wesleyan community, allowing us to reach students that are outside of the traditional environmental community. This funding demonstrates to the Wesleyan community that environmentalism and sustainability can encompass a wide range of issues.
This decision opens up avenues for environmental education. We plan to be highly visible with this decision and ensure that the entire Wesleyan community is aware of it.
All-Campus Outreach: It is our hope that this decision will provide an opportunity for rich and inclusive discussion about environmental justice. It is also our hope that this decision will tangibly showcase that the Green Fund’s philosophy of environmental justice is not just one of theory but one of embodiment. We hope this will open up discussions about the relationship between environmental justice, equity, and sustainable community building.
While this is a unique moment in time, this should serve to show how closely issues of access and equity are related to sustainability and resilience.
After careful consideration, we strongly believe that this use of our funds aligns with the Green Fund’s mission and are committed to using this as an opportunity to make Wesleyan’s community more just, equitable, and environmentally sustainable.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this letter.
Sincerely,
The Green Fund
1 The $8,000 allocated towards relief stipends is a figure that preserves predicted funding for summer internships and leaves a funding buffer incase of unexpected funding fluctuations over the summer.