During this winter and spring quarters, students from the University of Washington and The Evergreen State College made significant strides in combating hunger and homelessness, advocating for environmental sustainability, improving healthcare affordability, protecting the declining Orca population, and facilitating student voter registration. WashPIRG, with a membership exceeding 50 individuals statewide, has spearheaded efforts to enhance civic involvement on campuses and promote a more promising future for all.
Here are some of our top highlights!
Hunger and Homelessness
As Seattle residents, students are aware of the growing crisis of homelessness in our community. Every day, members of the Seattle community are going hungry and sleeping on the street. There is a growing disconnect between the needs of the community and how they’re being addressed through existing systems. All of these things create a desperate need for action to be taken – action that requires motivated people with clear plans to help make the Seattle community more livable for everyone. This means finding ways to help fight food and housing insecurity.
During Winter Quarter, our Hunger and Homelessness campaign organized volunteer events with local coalition partners where students had the opportunity to make a direct impact in their community. Volunteers got together to help at a dance fundraiser with Plymouth Housing, which ended up earning $1.75 million in donations for permanent housing.
On the legislative side, students gathered for multiple Lobby Day events to push for ‘Economic Security for All’ grants and an expansion of affordable housing tax exemptions to certain low-income builders, both of which passed and are now state law.
This spring quarter, the campaign’s goals are to push Seattle’s Office of Planning & Community Development to prioritize housing density in neighborhoods surrounding UW and close out the year with a few food drives. Through action like this, little by little, we can make a difference!
Earth and Energy
WashPIRG’s Earth and Energy campaign focuses on equitably addressing the climate crisis from a public policy angle.
During the legislative session, students lobbied in favor of Community Solar (HB 2253) and the ReWRAP Act (HB 2049), a bill for producer-funded recycling. The campaign organized two lobby days where they met with 31 legislators to discuss bills, HB 2253 and HB 2049, communicate why they are in the public’s best interest, and measure the opposition so they could better prepare for future lobbying efforts.
This Spring Quarter, Earth and Energy is partnering with over 80 other colleges across the US to organize a Reclaim Earth Day event. The idea is to strengthen the environmental movement by working with other social justice movements and “reclaim” Earth Day from greenwashing by emphasizing the need for serious, immediate action. They also plan to partner with organizations both on and off campus to organize a teach-in about environmental justice in Seattle.
Students from the University of Washington and The Evergreen State College also took action to protect the Dungeness River Levee Trail in Sequim. Students gathered over 1,000 petition signatures in support of protecting the wilderness area and are excited to take on more local environmental projects next year.
Affordable Healthcare
Our Affordable Healthcare campaign works to inform students about key healthcare issues and advocate for systemic improvements to Washington State healthcare legislation.
During the winter, the campaign held a Healthcare & Hot Cocoa mixer, in which healthcare RSOs had a chance to get together and share information on their ongoing projects. They also attended a Washington Health Alliance (WHA) speaker event, where WHA director Dr. Ander Oliveira shared a detailed account of healthcare equity shortcomings and potential solutions for Washington state.
During the legislative session, the Affordable Healthcare campaign supported two key pieces of healthcare legislation, protecting consumers against exorbitant costs for out-of-network ground ambulances in Washington State (SB 5986) and Keep Our Care Act (SB 5241). And they were successfully able to help pass SB 5986!
New Voters Project
Our New Voters Project, along with Democracy Dawgs, a coalition of faculty, teaching staff, and student groups dedicated to expanding voter accessibility of campus, will be expanding through Spring and into voting season in the Fall to serve a broader community including Washington high school students. The campaign is also launching a new initiative to address voter education and accessibility, especially in historically marginalized communities.
Save the Orcas
WashPIRG’s Save the Orcas campaign aims to educate the student body about threats faced by the orca populations in the Salish Sea and works towards protecting orcas at both a state and national level.
During Winter Quarter, the campaign researched Biden’s announcement to help restore the upper Columbia River basin and how this would affect Chinook salmon, the main prey of Southern Resident orcas. In addition, they looked into the reactions of activist groups who have been advocating for dam removals in the basin, specifically the lower Snake River.
Lastly, the campaign began planning how to support the SWIMS Act (HR 7145), which would prohibit the future display of whales in America.
Funding
During the Winter Quarter, we held a signature drive so that WashPIRG at UW can stay on the STAR system, the voluntary funding system organized by the University of Washington, where students can donate to WashPIRG while registering for classes. While the funding drive was suspended and postponed by the university until next year, we hope to see the same support from the student body in the future for student activism on campus!
Looking into the next academic year, we’re excited to hold more educational events, fundraisers, donation drives, and to turn out the youth vote for the 2024 election!
We are so grateful to all our coalition partners and supporters for their invaluable contributions, making this winter quarter exceptionally impactful. We also deeply appreciate the ongoing support from our communities. We look forward to keep making a transformative impact!
Best,
Matteah Davis
Board Chair
WashPIRG Students