By Julia Hess '15
Siena College’s 5th annual Fair Trade Colleges and Universities Regional Conference, was held earlier this month in the Sarazen Student Union. The event brought members of the Siena community together with people from the local area and students from other colleges and universities to highlight the importance of using Fair Trade and sustainable items in the college setting.
The conference featured a bazaar including Fair Trade and local products and a student panel titled, “Just Campus Organizing.” During the panel Siena students Casey Gallagher ’15, Travis Brodbeck ’15, and Amanda Knipple ’17 joined their peers from SUNY Geneseo and Hartwick College in discussing their experiences bringing Fair Trade goods to their institutions.
A senior accounting major, Brodbeck explained how he motivates his peers to support the cause.
“I always look at it as answering, ‘what’s in it for me.’ For some people we just say that it’s morally right. There are other people that we have to explain that Fair Trade provides quality goods. But for some people we have to show how it impacts the world,” Broderbeck said, joking that, “Telling them, that it’s what St. Francis would do really worked here for some reason.”
Knipple, a political science major, is striving to continue the Fair Trade movement that was started by previous Siena students, including passionate upperclassmen.
“The people who were inspiring me were graduating, and I knew that it was my turn to step up and try to become a figure to inspire the new generation,” Knipple said.
The Siena Students for Fair Trade Club plans to spread the message of using sustainable goods to local elementary and high schools.
The conference’s keynote speaker Marcela Tovar-Restrepo, Ph.D. is a professor at multiple New York colleges and is a member of the board of directors for the Women’s Environment and Development Organization. Her presentation focused on the importance of implementing sustainable goods at many different levels, including political, local and global.
“At WEDO, we connect the dots between equality and sustainability. How issues of race and ethnicities are at stake because of these lacks of resources, the impact of climate change on food security. This is why what we do can find a niche in the work that you’re doing at your colleges,” Tovar-Restrepo said.
Knipple believes that Siena’s Fair Trade movement will continue to thrive with the participation of passionate students.
“We try to educate people and entertain them. Turn their general interest into them wanting to come back and get involved in the movement,” Knipple said.
Click here to learn more about Siena College’s Fair Trade status.
