A couple weeks ago, Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) had their annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Oregon State had a few representatives from the Student Sustainability Initiative (Jen Christion-Meyers), and the Center for Civic Engagement (Jeremy Chu). Jeremy Chu, the Internal Coordinator for CCE, and a current Oregon State Student shared a little bit about his experience attending and presenting at the conference:
“The primary reason for my attendance at the AASHE Conference, was to present on the links between Civic Engagement participation and Toxic Masculinity. My session’s objective was to introduce gender socialization and allow personal reflection and discussion about it. It was exciting to see 70 individuals attending my session and actively participate in the discussion. I really hope that these individuals carry-on the same discussions with their peers in their communities. Gender socialization is so ingrained in our day-to-day lives, that it doesn’t surprise anyone that it is often taken for granted.
My favorite part of the trip was listening to Keynote speaker: Dr. Marc Edwards, who spoke about his sacrifices, professionally and personally, to stand-up for the people of Flint, MI. He disclosed so much that the people don’t know such as the internal corruption from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and their role in the water crises in Washington DC and Flint, MI. His personal account was incredibly moving and he undoubtedly demonstrated his commitment and compassion to the people of Flint. This man fought against corrupt government officials, lost professional and personal friends, and put himself in almost $1 million in debt. Dr. Edwards’ level of sacrifice to do what is right, is one of the bravest, inspirational, crazy, and remarkable acts of human moral there is.”
Thank you for sharing your experience at AASHE, Jeremy. We hope you can bring the inspiration from the conference here to OSU!
CATEGORIES: Center for Civic Engagement Student Sustainability Initiative Sustainable Student Spotlight