by Helen Gloege ‘23
“More people equals more political power,” said Destiny Treloar ‘21, a hub coordinator for Sunrise South Hadley, Mount Holyoke’s local chapter of the national Sunrise Movement.
Sunrise South Hadley follows the national movement in both structure and advocacy. They connect to other hubs in the area as well as the local community as well as work on the national scale to create local engagement and address local issues.
The Sunrise Movement is an American youth-led political movement that advocates for immediate political action to be taken on climate change. Evan Weber and Matthew Lichtash; two Wesleyan students and environmentalist Michael K. Dorsey were awarded a $30,000 grant in 2013 to draft a plan for climate action which served as the basis for the US Climate Plan nonprofit. This plan was set into motion in 2015 by Sara Blazevic and Varshini Prakash, trained in community organizing, who started the Sunrise Movement. The Sunrise Movement officially launched in 2017.
During the 2018 midterm elections, the Sunrise Movement worked to remove candidates who would not refuse funding from the fossil fuel industry. Half of their first twenty endorsements won elections.
After the midterms, the Sunrise Movement shifted their focus to on the Green New Deal. With the upcoming democratic primaries, Sunrise Movement has recently endorsed Bernie Sanders as the best candidate for environmental issues.
Sunrise South Hadley was established by a group of Mount Holyoke students in September 2019, and organized several events and protests during the fall semester. They went to the Boston Climate Strike on September 20 and met with President Sonya Stephens to address their five demands. These included: declaring a state of emergency, immediate action, community leadership, pursuing a just transition and preparing students for the future.
In November, the group hosted a panel about the Green New Deal, which included cross-disciplinary professors. In December they organized a climate strike in Springfield.
More information about the Sunrise Movement and Sunrise South Hadley can be found on their websites and social media pages. To get involved contact: