Press Release by Barbara
Laskin
Macalester College
28 October 2009
St. Paul, Minn.—Timothy DenHerder-Thomas, a
22-year-old senior at Macalester College, has been awarded the
Mario Savio Young Activist Award for his work in tackling the
problems of climate change and environmental justice. As part of
the award, DenHerder-Thomas received $6,000, half for his project
and half to use as he wishes. The award ceremony took place on
Tuesday, October 27, in California.
“I am honored to receive this important award,”
said DenHerder-Thomas. “I plan to use the funds for a Summer of
Solutions national leadership gathering and related program
development efforts to continue engaging young people in
environmental stewardship and sustainable community development.”
DenHerder-Thomas received the prize for
developing practical new programs to spur ecological innovation
and sustainable community development. After establishing a
revolving fund at Macalester that encourages students to implement
campus sustainability practices and recaptures the savings
created, he went on to organize Summer of Solutions, a program
that trains youth leaders to partner with local groups to develop
community projects around energy efficiency, sustainable food
production, urban design, community-based energy, and green
industry. Since creating the Summer of Solutions in 2008,
DenHerder-Thomas has helped it spread across the country while
developing new models, like a community energy cooperative that
demonstrate the opportunities for economic recovery and social
justice that a green economy can provide.
DenHerder-Thomas was one of only two young
leaders nationally to win this annual award. The second recipient
was Chelsea Chee, a 25-year old Navajo woman and youth organizer
for the Black Mesa Water Coalition in Arizona. Chee has been
working to reorient the Navajo nation towards a "greener' future:
opposing fossil fuel extraction and the resumption of uranium
mining, encouraging the use of grey water, and promoting a green
jobs program. Her efforts have resulted in the passage of job
legislation and the creation of numerous youth groups and
youth-run radio programs to support these initiatives.
"Timothy and Chelsea strike us as representing
two key aspects of the climate debate-- the need to build bridges
across class divides and challenge the system from within and the
need for those communities most vulnerable to the effects of
climate change, though least responsible for it, to have a strong
voice in the debate," said Lynne Hollander Savio, chairperson of
the awards program. "Chelsea has had to struggle against great
odds -- a vast territory, little money, and tribal history and
cultural values, while Timothy has been exceptionally creative and
ingenious in developing new, self-sustaining projects."
The awards for leadership ability, creativity,
and integrity, were presented last night at the 13th annual Mario
Savio Memorial Lecture, delivered this year by journalist Naomi
Klein at the University of California, Berkeley campus. Both the
Lecture and the Young Activist Award, which is given to a young
person with a deep commitment to human rights and social justice
and a proven ability to transform this commitment into effective
action, honor the late Mario Savio, who came to public notice in
1964 when students at Berkeley rebelled against restrictions on
political activity at the university. Their protest drew
nationwide attention and stirred activism by college students
across the country.
Although condemned by university administrators
and public opinion at the time, the Free Speech Movement has been
recognized for some years as having made a positive contribution
to university life. The Free Speech Movement café, commemorating
the protest, was opened in the undergraduate library in 1998 and
has become a popular campus gathering place. The yearly lecture
series which bears his name is co-sponsored by several departments
at the university, and has presented such well-known speakers as
journalist Molly Ivins, teacher and author Cornel West, and
historian Howard Zinn.
Read more at
http://www.savio.org
Macalester College, founded in 1874, is a
national liberal arts college with a full-time enrollment of 1,958
students. Macalester is nationally recognized for its
long-standing commitment to academic excellence, internationalism,
multiculturalism, and civic engagement.