The Associated Student Government Senate passed a petition Wednesday urging Northwestern to ensure emission transparency, update its sustainability plan and eliminate fossil fuels — along with legislation to boost student engagement in ASG Senate elections within the McCormick School of Engineering.
The resolution for a “Fossil Free Northwestern” was proposed at the Jan. 22 meeting to address the University’s significant contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. The resolution emphasizes NU’s responsibility to take “meaningful action in the face of the climate crisis.”
The resolution also calls on NU to improve its sustainability practices by providing its emissions reports and transitioning to renewable energy sources. This aligns with commitments by institutions such as Harvard University and Yale University, which have taken steps to reduce their environmental impacts.
“Obviously, the environment is a really important part of our future,” Weinberg freshman Margaret Zhang said. “ASG has its own sustainability committee, so (the resolution) reflects ASG values directly.”
The piece of legislation was passed in the Senate.
McCormick junior and ASG Senator Ryan Beam introduced the next piece of legislation, which aimed to increase voter turnout for both Senate and presidential ASG elections. Beam noted that McCormick had the lowest voter turnout of any NU school in the 2024 Senate elections, with less than 5% of its students participating.
The legislation outlined that an ASG representative will sit in the lobby of the Technological Institute in the future to try and encourage more students to vote. It will also have ASG partner with McCormick student groups to advertise ASG elections and candidates on social media.
Beam said he hopes to increase not only voter turnout among McCormick students but their ASG engagement in general, too. When he ran for ASG Senate, Beam said there were only four people campaigning for four seats.
“So essentially, we were guaranteed to be elected,” Beam said. “Part of my goals as senator has been to try and change that so next year when I run again, there’ll be more people running, there’ll be more people engaged.”
Citing ASG Presidential Elections approaching on Feb. 5, the Senate voted to turn the resolution into emergency legislation, a process that requires a two-thirds majority vote. Despite some questions on the logistics and efficacy of the legislation — such as where and when an ASG representative would promote the elections — the legislation passed through the Senate.
Weinberg junior and Speaker of the Senate Grace Houren reserved time in the second half of the meeting for senators to brainstorm potential legislative ideas. Houren said this new activity was designed for senators to collaborate on legislation, responding to feedback gathered from a reflection senators completed at the start of the quarter.
Senators wrote down their ideas on sticky notes, focusing on concepts that could be turned into legislation. They then placed the notes on the windows surrounding the room and walked around, reviewing and selecting ideas from their peers to begin working on.
“Being here and being able to bounce ideas off of each other was really helpful, also just having Exec members and Senate leadership here to kind of brainstorm with,” Houren said. “I also think as NU students, it can be really hard to dedicate time to working on Senate things if you’re not here.”
At the end of the meeting, Executive Board reports were read by the Senate, detailing the ASG Sustainability Grant, which supports student groups at NU working on sustainability projects.
ASG has $2,000 allocated each quarter for the ASG Sustainability Grant, from which groups are able to request up to $500 per quarter. To apply, students must explain their project’s purpose, how the funds will improve sustainability and provide a cost breakdown. Applications are then reviewed on a rolling basis, with a majority vote needed to be approved.
Email: janellemella2027@u.northwestern.edu
Email: marissafernandez2028@u.northwestern.edu
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