Marquette University: Sustainable Development and Our Environment

On March 4th, Democracy Matters at Marquette University hosted a panel discussion
entitled “Sustainable Development and Our Environment”.

There has been a growing concern among students on Marquette’s campus about the
University’s commitment to environmental stewardship. The news of Marquette’s plans
to build a new law school building, engineering building, and administration
building has given a platform for concerned students to engage the administration
with these concerns.

Democracy Matters, in coalition with the Les Aspin Center for Government Alumni
Council and Students for an Environmentally Active Campus, was able to successfully
provide a venue for this discussion with the March 4th event. Panelists included Dr.
Michael Switzenbaum, Professor and Executive Associate Dean of the College of
Engineering, Ms. Laura Bray, Executive Director of Menomonee Valley Partners Inc.,
and Mr. Tom Ganey, Director of the Office of the Marquette University Architect.

Democracy Matter’s campus coordinator was the moderator of the panel discussion, and
gave a brief introduction to the event. He talked about the Democracy Matters
Organization and quickly explained how money and politics is related to the issue of
sustainable development. He then introduced the panelists and moderated the Q & A
session that followed the panelist’s presentations.

The event was a great success, with nearly 100 students in attendance. Students had
the chance to voice their concerns for an environmentally sound campus, and hear the
University’s plans to that end. Although the event was not centered around the issue
of money and politics, it did give recognition to Democracy Matters on campus and
raise awareness of the issue of campaign finance reform. Students picked up
literature on the relationship between election finance and the environmental
movement, and have since contacted the Democracy Matters Campus Coordinator in large
numbers.

Student activists can learn from the indirect approach taken by Democracy Matters at
Marquette. As most Democracy Matters activists know, it can be difficult to attract
students to the issue of campaign finance by itself. By pairing the issues of
Democracy Matters with the issues that resonate on campus, a large audience can be
made aware of the influence of money in politics.