To champion the principles of free speech and environmental stewardship, CFACT at the University of Pittsburgh, Bradford hosted an open environmental forum to solicit feedback and ideas from students on campus regarding environmental issues.
Driessen Fellow intern Shakira Jackson, a senior, hosted and organized the forum.
“I collaborated with the Honors Society on my campus, and it gave students a chance to ask any questions they had about environmental issues,” Jackson explained. “It was very informative, and it was a pretty good turnout. Students discussed topics about climate change, causes, effects, and solutions of acid rain, littering, and landfills, solutions of ocean acidification, what nitrogen pollution is, as well as the impact and solutions of nitrogen pollution, and more. We brainstormed what students could do on campus to help the environment succeed. I am very proud of this advocacy.”
While not all ideas or concerns expressed were necessarily the positions held by CFACT, that doesn’t matter. The point of this forum was to build awareness for the importance of free speech and the open exchange of ideas, especially at our nation’s institutions of higher education. If more schools could host honest, frank discussions of those from a variety of political backgrounds, the nation would be in far better shape!
