Fossil Free WSU Minutes from Meeting on January 17, 2023
Present: Stevie Smith, Danielle Weinberger, Cameron Longwith, Abby Owens, Simon Smith, Ryan Culp, Daniel Howell, Bill Engels Jr., Gil Rezin, Bill Engels
I. Meeting Location and Time
The group discussed possible alternative meeting locations and days for the spring semester. It was decided to plan to meet next on our current meeting day, Tuesday, and to meet in the lobby area outside the elevators on the third floor of the CUB. Bill will inquire about meeting space in the Terrell Library. Stevie will see if other room options are available and if rooms presently reserved will open up after student clubs have finished recruiting.
2. Sustainability Task Force
Stevie reported that he had not received any updates from Jason Sampson, who is co-chairing the Task Force. He contacted Jason regarding this during the meeting.
3. Student Petition
A total of 814 persons had signed. Stevie will inquire about reposting the petition on electronic signs on campus. He will also see about posting on additional signs. The locations include the CUB, Spark, Smith CUE, Rec Center, Chinook, and the cafeterias.
Ryan will arrange to have the paper posters put up again in the student dorms after having the graphics from the digital petition sign added to it. Bill will send him the digital version with the graphics. He will ask Mason to assist with formatting, if necessary.
Bill said he will put up several posters in the CUB on Monday, the 23rd.
4. Presentations to ASWSU Committees
Stevie will contact the committes again about scheduling a presentation. A representative of each ASWSU committee that agrees to sign the student petition will put the name of the committee on the same version of petition being circulated for individuals to sign. The committee’s and individuals’ petition will be kept in two separate files.
5. Divestment Resolution
Bill reported that he has been working on the Divestment Resolution and that Rachel Cristaudo from the Collective for Social and Environmental Justice based at WSU Vancouver has contributed material. He will continue working on the Resolution and will consult with Brian Henning at Gonzaga U on some questions.
6. Virtual Meeting with the Collective for Social and Environmental Justice
Bill reported that he met on Zoom with the Director of the Collective, Desiree Hellegers, and Rachel Cristaudo on December 8th. He was excited to be collaborating on the divestment campaign beyond the Pullman campus, he said. He shared their question about whether making the “carbon underground 200” our divestment target was sufficient. The group pointed out that Fossil Free WSU had already decided on this particular target. Bill has written Brian Henning on the question of whether this target is sufficient.
He also shared that they had discussed in the virtual meeting on December 8th whether FFWSU should proceed with a faculty petition at this time. It might pave the way for the WSU Faculty Senate’s approval of the Divestment Resolution. The group decided to do so and Ryan agreed to seek approval for sending a communication with the petition to all faculty.
7. Cougar Investment Fund
The group discussed reaching out to Mario Reyes, who, as of August 2021, mentored WSU students working on the Fund, regarding fossil fuel divestment. It was decided that, rather than Bill’s trying to meet with him, he would send him an email asking what percentage of the 5-6% of the Fund invested in energy-related industries are invested in fossil fuels.
8. Public Comments at the January 27th Board of Regents Meeting
Gil and Abby volunteered to comment and Ryan to serve as a back-up. The group made a few suggestions for the content of the sample comments that Bill will send to those commenting.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 31st, 6 pm in lounge area outside the 3rd floor elevators in the CUB.
Fossil Free WSU 