Finally off the endangered species list is Fairfield University’s Student Environmental Association (SEA). Nearly dormant for the past few years, the club is getting back on its feet with the help of its president, Monica Dauphinais ’06.
“I tried to join SEA my freshman and sophomore years but never received e-mails about meetings or events,” she said. “It would have been terrible for Fairfield’s only environmental club to die out due to a lack of interest when clearly there was interest on campus,” Dauphinais said.
Dauphinais was elected president two years ago and has since attempted to give SEA more of a presence on campus. Building a member list was the easy part. The hard part was convincing members to regularly attend meetings.
“Finding other people who were interested in SEA was easy, but finding people who would make a commitment to the club was a little trickier,” she said.
Nevertheless, Dauphinais’s energy has been infectious and inspired others to join her cause.
“I joined SEA at the beginning of last year because I wanted to get involved at school and am really interested in environmental issues,” said Annie Murphy ’07. “Monica was so enthusiastic about reviving the club, so I volunteered to be vice president. I love being a part of this group.”
SEA has attracted approximately 20 committed club members, and the group has been able to successfully organize several on-campus events. Last year, the club initiated a can and bottle drive called “Cans for Candy,” in which SEA members went door-to-door offering students Halloween candy in exchange for used, recyclable cans. The event raised over $100 and will return this October with all profits benefiting a rainforest revival effort in South America, according to Dauphinais.
Other events run by SEA last year included “Sneaker Mountain,” in which SEA members collected used sneakers from Fairfield students, staff and faculty. The sneakers were donated to a company that recycles them into playground materials. This event is also scheduled to return this year.
In addition to hosting fundraisers, SEA has focused on improving the recycling program on campus. Last year, it started the curbside recycling program, which allows students in the townhouses to recycle any number one or two plastics, glass or aluminum. Each house received a blue bin and a flyer at the beginning of the year, and although the pickup schedule has not been finalized, it will probably be once every two weeks.
Plans for this year include continuing many of the activities from last year and adding a few more, especially for Earth Week.
“I’m really looking forward to Earth Week next semester because a lot of SEA members have come up with some great ideas to promote the cause,” said club member Shannon Bali ’06. “Some of the things we are doing that week include a beach clean up and raising money to buy and protect an acre of rainforest in Chile.”
With field trips, fundraisers, and recycling, SEA has an impressive agenda for this year, but spotlighting environmental issues continues to be the focal point of the club.
“I would like for environmental issues to be more of a priority on campus both for the students and the faculty,” Dauphinais said.
Dauphinais encourages anyone who is interested in SEA to attend meetings Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. in the BOG room in the Campus Center.
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