As we ring in the new year, I wanted to share our biggest accomplishments for the last term.
It has been an exciting term empowering our fellow students to make change on some of the most profound issues affecting our generation – from climate change, turning out the vote, to addressing students basic needs! That is only possible because we are funded by students who pledge to add the CALPIRG fee to their tuition. This funding gives us the political power, staff training, and resources to win our campaigns. This fall over 8,500 students signed up as new members of our organization!
Here is an update on the campaigns we worked on this term and how they went!
Protect our Forests
Old-growth forests—forests that have been more or less untouched by logging and development for centuries—are crucial habitats for thousands of species. The longer trees grow, the more time a fully-fledged, interconnected forest ecosystem has to develop. These complex ecosystems provide vital and unique habitats for birds up above, critters down below and everyone in between.
Amidst our current biodiversity and climate crisis, the destruction of old-growth forests and mature trees and forests is the embodiment of a wasteful, short-sighted mentality.
That’s why we called on the Federal Government to protect mature and old growth trees and forests from logging.
Just this term, we gathered thousands of petition signatures from students, held forest festivals on campus, and worked with students governments to pass resolutions in support.
This work all culminated in the Los Padres National Forest, where we brought eighty students from across the state together to demonstrate how much support there is for our oldest trees.
New Voters Project
The full participation of young people in the political process is essential to a truly representative, vibrant democracy. Young people are now the largest and most diverse group of potential voters in the country, but historically 18-24-year-olds are less likely to vote than the national average. We’ve been working to change that!
CALPIRG’s New Voters Project is the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan youth voter mobilization effort in the country and we’ve run peer-to-peer student voter mobilization drives to turn out the youth vote on college campus.
Over the course of the term, we held voter registration drives, did announcements in classes, worked with our campus coalitions, and did get out the vote work to make sure as the largest generation, we are turning out! Over the course of the term we reached over 185,000 students all across the state!
Hunger and Homelessness
No one should have to worry about whether they will have food on their plate or a roof over their head. But the reality is that hunger and homelessness are widespread problems that affect far too many people – including college students. Our latest research suggests that one in five students is considered food insecure.
Though we prioritize systemic solutions to our shared problems, students can make an immediate impact by supporting local hunger and homelessness relief efforts in their broader communities. So we rolled up our sleeves for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week in November.
At UC San Diego (below), students gathered over 1,000 items to donate to local shelters in San Diego. Students at UC Riverside, educated their fellow peers on campus about the resources available to them on campus, and students at UC Berkeley students gathered letters from students on campus about the difficulties of address their own basic needs as students.
Legislative Victories
Over the years, we’ve built support on a set of bills to help move us to a future with thriving wildlife, clean air, and a healthy planet. This legislative session, we had a handful of historic victories!
After working to get countless petition signatures, hosting press events to build media attention, and organizing lobby days in Sacramento, we helped to pass a bill to fully ban plastic grocery bags in California. We got covered in both the Los Angeles Times and New York Times for this work!
We also helped pass The Responsible Textile Recovery Act which will require clothing companies to create and fund a clothing recycling program, ensuring less clothing is sent to a landfill and more clothing is repaired or recycled. We also helped to pass bills to save our pollinators!
Looking Ahead
We are excited to continue to advocate on issues young people care about! Next term our priority campaign will focus on protecting our oceans. We’ll also work to address climate change, students’ basic needs, and more!
Thank you for your support! We know students have the power to shape the future we will inherit and we look forward to another year of student power and social change.
Best,
Jake Twomey
Board Chair
CALPIRG Students
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CALPIRG Students is a statewide student-directed and student-funded nonprofit advocacy group that works with professional staff at colleges and universities to make sure our peers have the skills, opportunities and training they need to create a better, more sustainable future for all of us. Our chapters provide the training, professional support and resources students need to tackle climate change, protect public health, revitalize our democracy, feed the hungry and more. For nearly 50 years we’ve helped students to get organized, mobilized and energized so they can continue to be on the cutting edge of positive change.