In the midst of student chants for a more environmentally friendly campus, breaking news changed the agenda of the daylong rally.
The launch of UB's nationwide search for a new UB Green director was announced by the University News Services within minutes of the start of the Earth Day March 2008.
The demonstration originally targeted students to put pressure on administration to hire more staff members for UB Green.
"UB Green's director is retiring and the problem was, until five minutes ago, that we weren't going to have a new one," announced Jordan Gerow, a junior English major, through his megaphone. "We got 1,500 signatures for it, we had meetings with administration and here it is in my hand right now. It's not going to be about making demands - it'll be partying."
About 24 students stuck with the group of protesters the entire route from Capen Undergraduate Library to the Student Union to gather supporters for the full-fledged demonstration outside the Center for the Arts where the Building UB forum was taking place.
The three environmental student clubs on campus united as a force against the university's complacency with climate change.
"We launched the campaign last week because we heard they weren't hiring a new UB Green director so right now we find out that they are and it's a result of student pressure," said Kelly Miller, a senior environmental engineering major.
This is not the case, according to Michael Dupre, associate vice president for University Facilities. UB Green, headed by Simpson, and the new Environmental Stewardship Committee, chaired by UB 2020 Planner Robert Shibley, and the Environmental Task Force (ETF) are organizations concerned about the environmental sustainability on campus. He believes the student protesters are mistaken in their thinking that administration planned on not replacing Simpson.
"They are at error and I am not sure why because at the last ETF meeting I have always said the same thing," Dupre said. "At some point in the future we will fill the position. You can't fill the position when the person is still working here."
Simpson has not filed papers to retire officially, which is the main deterrent in the search for a replacement, according to Dupre.
"Walter hasn't retired, he hasn't filed the papers - I assume he will retire around the timeframe he told me he would and then some time after that we'd be filling the position," Dupre said. "We want to make sure we fill the position in context of what we need as a whole, not just the UB Green office, but the Environmental Stewardship Committee and the ETF."
A director for UB Green will be in place for the upcoming academic year, Dupre said, taking into account the three to four months necessary for to conduct a national search and job interviews.
"I would hope at the beginning of the next academic year to have the position filled," Dupre said. "We need broad ownership. We need the university and all its administrators...we want to make sure we fill that position as a whole. That review process would delay filling the position for some period of time."
Both parties acknowledge meeting about the issue, but neither side knows where the miscommunication arose.
"Three student representatives met with Professor Shibley, myself and Beau Willis last Friday and we have a follow-up meeting later this week," Dupre said. "In the UB Green office... the students haven't engaged them in the conversation. They know that we're going to do the search."
Danielle Peters, a sophomore environmental studies major and member of the Climate Action Student Advisory Council, said Simpson was aware of the student campaign, but was not actively a part of the fight and officials were unclear about their decision to bring in a replacement prior to the announcement.
"If we were mistaken, it is because they didn't tell us that. He never told us he was going to hire someone," Peters said.
Tim Reagen, a sophomore architecture and environmental studies major, also stated that the administration was unclear about the point at numerous meetings he attended.
"They never made that clear during the ETF meeting. If that decision was made, it was made a week ago," Reagen said.
The student campaign began three to four weeks ago, according to protesters.
About two decades ago in 1990, UB signed the Talloires Declaration at an international conference in Talloires, France where about 350 university presidents and chancellors signed a plan to incorporate sustainability in their future plans.
According to the protesters, UB has not fulfilled the ten-points the Declaration proposes, which include goals to increase awareness of environmentally sustainable development and to foster environmental literacy for all.
A year ago, President John B. Simpson signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment to achieve climate neutrality and to reduce greenhouse emissions with on-campus changes. Simpson is among 521 university presidents that have committed themselves and their universities to the environmental revolution.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
