Pledge Unites Civic-Minded Graduates

Author: Nicha Rakpanichmanee

Beginning with the Class of 2002, Middlebury College seniors will be given the option to sign the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility. The pledge reads: "I, [name], pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work."

Signers of the pledge, along with supportive faculty and staff members, will wear green ribbons at Commencement according to Michael Silberman '02.5, who plans to enlist the College in the Graduation Pledge Alliance (GPA), a nationwide effort of 65 educational institutions coordinated by the Peace Studies Institute of Manchester College in Indiana. As of last spring, the University of Vermont was the only GPA participant in the state. The membership, however, ranges from Harvard University and Dartmouth College to the Lancaster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and Humboldt State University of Louisiana, where the pledge was crafted in 1987.

The pledge will accompany graduates in the form of wallet-sized cards, Silberman explained, though it is intended to serve as more than a souvenir. Silberman said he wants to "link" classroom discussions of "changing the world" to graduates' careers.

"We all can find ways to 'do well' and 'do good,'" Director of Service Learning and Student Employment Tiffany Sargent commented. Her two year old office has been helping to launch next fall's program called "Careers for the Common Good," a result of collaboration with Executive Director of Career Services Jaye Roseborough and Associate Director of Career Development and Counselling Krista Siringo. Sargent stressed that career searches need not be a choice between "serving and making no money" and "'selling out' in order to make money."

"You don't have to work in a non-profit sector hugging trees or lobbying to be socially and environmentally responsible," Silberman continued. He cited countless possibilities in the private sector for students to make money, even in profitable business, while also reducing negative human impact on the environment or reducing social inequality.

Silberman referred to "borderline people" as one target group of the pledge. The border, he suggested, "is not as much between social and environmental responsibility and irresponsibility, but social and environmental responsibility and complacency." While many students will "naturally embody the ideals of the pledge without needing to sign one," Silberman noted the "failure to recognize ways that one Middlebury graduate, equipped with the tools to act responsibly, can make change."

Complacency in this generation of college students may stem from crises that are "not always imminent or visible," Silberman remarked. "We do not directly witness immediate changes in the earth's climate as we drive our cars or use power unnecessarily. Environmental crises like global warming, for instance, do not appear to directly impede our immediate personal goals."

"We are not being asked by leaders to personally change our ways," Silberman added. "Even the president has defended the consumptive 'American' way."

Several College staff members are familiar with the pledge, said Silberman, but they have been waiting for a student to enact the initiative on campus. In the past few weeks of his solicitation for "ideological sponsors," Silberman has received endorsements from various branches in the College administration such as Service Learning and Student Employment, CSO, Wonnacott Commons, Dining Services, Athletics Department, the Chaplain's Office and Dean of Student Affairs Ann Hanson.

"The pledge is made by students, so it only seems logical that students should bring it forth," said Roseborough. "This kind of commitment should not be a top-down thing."

Wonnacott Commons Dean Matt Longman graduated from Middlebury in 1989 as an environmental studies major. The pledge "is about reminding people about how to step beyond the world of Middlebury into the next chapter of their lives," he said. He called the pledge "a healthy reminder" that is especially valuable in today's world. "Given that Middlebury College has established environmentalism as one of our peaks of institutional excellence, it is that much more appropriate," he added.

A large variety of student groups have offered support for the pledge, such as the Middlebury Initiative for Sustainable Development (MISD), February Outdoor Orientation (FOO!), the African singing-running group Mchakamchaka, the German Club, Omega Alpha (Tavern), Middlebury Pranksters, the Book Club and Weybridge House.

Silberman said that the widespread support stemmed from the pledge being "a hard thing to oppose." He warned, however, "People should not sign it because it is easy to do. It is easy to sign, and it is easy to disregard. We want the right people who gave some thought to it, who will internalize it."

Noting that Middlebury students are a part of "an educated elite," composing "a very small but important minority of both the world's wealthiest and largest country," Silberman commented that that the pledge was "a reminder that you are part of a larger movement."