Student Organization Spotlight: Chatham Student Power with Zoe Levine
A new school year is the perfect time to start thinking about what student organizations might align with your passions, interests, and hobbies and luckily Chatham has plenty. To kick off Fall 2020, we’re catching up with student organizations and their leaders to learn more about their 2020-2021 aspirations and what students can look forward to if they join. Next up is Chatham Student Power, a student led collective that advocates for the environment, human rights, social justice, and as Executive President, Zoe Levine, History ‘21 put it: “Whatever our members are interested in.” We caught up with Zoe to learn more about the work of Chatham Student Power and what they have their sights set on this year:
Chatham Student Power gathers for the Climate Strike
Can you tell us a little bit about Chatham STUDENT POWER and your goals on campus?
Zoe Levine: Chatham Student Power is an umbrella organization for all different types of activism. We focus on whatever our members are interested in that year. Some of the things we've focused on in the past have been food insecurity and environmental issues. Reproductive rights are something that students are really interested in this year, as well as backing Black Student Union’s racial justice initiatives. We try to work on any student activist issue that arises on campus. If there is a miscommunication from administration or a lack of transparency, we work with administration to be more transparent with students and to support faculty and staff if there is anything we can help with in that regard. We're an all-encompassing team of activists on campus.
DID YOU FOUND CHATHAM STUDENT POWER?
ZL: I did not. It existed before I came to Chatham as the Sustainable Impact Team. Back then, they focused solely on environmental issues, particularly having the school divest funding from fossil fuels. I joined as a first year and then during my second semester at Chatham, we voted to change the name to Chatham Student Power and to start encompassing other areas of activism.
What are some projects that you all have worked on—on campus and in the community?
ZL: A big thing we do is help students who are interested in attending events like rallies or protests get there, have a safe contact, and have other students who are going as a connection. We went to the Climate Strike together last September. We also do different programming on campus. Our biggest event was a Sustainable Fashion Fair. I was actually studying abroad at the time, so I was doing a lot of the planning from abroad, but my board did all of the on-ground work. We asked students to donate clothing, and for every item they donated, they earned one “buck” to use in exchange for another item at the fair. Students could donate up to 10 items and get up to 10 bucks. If you couldn't donate, every item was worth $1. We had over 100 students turn out, which is really big for Chatham. It was a safe space for students to thrift on campus. We donated the money we earned to the Free Store in Wilkinsburg. We're hoping to make that an annual event; it will obviously look different this year because of COVID-19.
We are also interested in holding activist advocacy workshops. Our meetings are our most powerful events. That's where we discuss what types of actions we want to take. If we want to petition something at Chatham or if we want to do a letter dropping to administration, our meetings are where we decide that. That's where we do a lot of the work.
Chatham Student Power at the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh
What are your responsibilities as president of CHATHAM STUDENT POWER?
ZL: I try to keep everyone on track on my board. Our board tries hard to not be hierarchical. It's a lot of collaborating with everyone. We emphasize everyone's strengths. If there is something someone excels at, we make sure they're focused on that. For me, that is organizing communication with people outside of the organization, figuring out what types of events to do, and organizing meetings. But a lot of these things we do collaboratively, that's just the nature of the club.
What are the benefits of joining Chatham STUDENT POWER?
ZL: I would say the number one benefit is working with other students on things you're passionate about. It can be hard at a small school to find your community. It’s especially hard for incoming students to find people that they share interests with and want to collaborate with on different actions. The people in this organization are some of the kindest people I've met at Chatham. We really care about each other. Having a support system is really important; plus you are able to use your voice as a student and stand up for what you want to see happen in the community and on campus.
What type of student might be interested in getting involved with CHATHAM STUDENT POWER?
ZL: We're for anyone, any student who is on campus regardless of their political beliefs, but we do lean towards being an activist organization. If you're a student who is interested in making a change on campus for the betterment of everyone on campus, or if you're like looking for an outlet for your frustration with what is happening in the world, you'll be able to put that to good use with Chatham Student Power.
Chatham Student Power at the Zero Waste Conference at the University of Pennsylvania
If a student is on the fence about joining CHATHAM STUDENT POWER, how would you recommend they learn more about it?
ZL: I would recommend reaching out to me as well as my co-president, Morgan Williams. We can either talk over email or we're open to meeting over Zoom. We try really hard to be flexible. If you just have a little bit you want to do, and you don't feel like you can commit to being at every meeting and event, there's still space for you to have our club in your life.
What initiatives are you most looking forward to in this new school year?
ZL: We've been talking about focusing on reproductive rights this year as well as food insecurity or different cost issues that college students face and how we can help those who might be in this situation. We also want to make sure that people are aware of how to be healthy and safe with COVID-19, and work with administration to respond to that. One of our main focuses this year is backing Black Student Union and their student demands regarding racial inequality on campus. But we'll focus on whatever arises.
For more information on how to get involved with Chatham Student Power, contact zoe.levine@chatham.edu or morgan.l.williams@chatham.edu and follow Chatham Student Power on Instagram: @chathamcsp. You can also join their Zoom meetings on Sundays from 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM.
