Saxon Stahl: Leading on climate change through student governance

Saxon Stahl: Leading on climate change through student governance

Saxon Stahl, a graduating master’s program in the Climate and Society Program, created the Climate School’s Student Council.

Saxon Stahl grew up in the conservative wine country of Temecula, California — where cowboy boots are everywhere and the most popular nightclub is the Line Dance Studio — Saxon Stahl stands out in their hometown. Learning about their Aboriginal heritage at the age of 18 further shakes their sense of identity.

“We grew up thinking of ourselves as Mexican. So I feel like I grew up in a culture that I didn’t belong to, a culture that I didn’t grow up in,” Starr said. “I was like, ‘Where do I belong?'”

Engaging with nature and learning about traditions from Indigenous leaders helped validate Starr’s identity. Since then, they’ve worked hard to create spaces — and the proverbial seat at the table — where others feel validated and their voices heard.

as a master candidate Climate and Society ProgramStahl forms the Columbia Climate Graduate Council – the official student union of Columbia University Columbia Climate School – Write a constitution and bylaws that empower students and promote representation and equity.Most recently, Stahl was recognized for his leadership in this work campbell award.

As graduation looms, Stahl looks forward to their next steps, including an environmental justice internship at NASA and working towards a second master’s degree—this time with a focus on political analysis at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies.Through this project, Starr hopes to continue toward their ultimate goal of working in the federal government to develop policies that reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions

In the Q&A below, Starr shares more about why climate schools need a student union, and why governance matters in the broader climate policy arena.

What brought you to the Climate and Society Initiative?

During my undergraduate years, I majored in Environmental Science and Political Science, all concentrated in the School of Climate. I am interested in influencing climate policy.

professor Andrew Cruzkiewicz (Climate School’s International Institute for Climate and Society) once said, “We’re teaching you how to be a translator.” I think that helped me understand the importance of having not only scientists but climate policy makers. So that affirms my space and why I belong to climate school like everyone else. My colleagues are doing a lot of important research, and I want to make sure that the research they’re doing is being treated right and translated into policy.

Why set up a student union?

I want to create a space where climate school students can improve their civic literacy, engage in advocacy, and translate climate research into policy. These are important skills for climate leadership.

There are other students who have done an amazing job of getting us into meetings, elevating the student community and resources available, and addressing student concerns. I really want to bring all of these efforts into one space because everyone is doing their own thing. We need to come together and build a collective front because that unity is so important, especially when we know that part of the fight against climate change is building coalitions. So it’s important to make climate schools a place where those values ​​are fostered, because it’s actually applying what we learn in the classroom.

I took over this project because if we’re going to create a student union, I don’t want it to be set up by the admin – I want it to be set up by the students.As such, it is a space for student, go through student.

how did you do it?

For the past year, I have had the honor of being a member of the Arts and Sciences Graduate Council Executive Vice President, where I review the bylaws and bylaws, and also keep a diligent record of the student body for the council. It was easy for me to think about this passion project of creating the student council and writing the governing papers because I realized I could look at what other schools were doing and adapt to the climate school.

During the winter vacation, I started to formulate the constitution and constitution of the climate school student union. I intentionally included positions with a climate perspective – such as VP Climate and Equity – and emphasized the importance of maintaining cultural influence at such a prestigious level of governance.

Then I convened the student council and asked them to come and give their opinion on how the student council should be set up. We gathered a lot of student feedback and made a lot of changes to the original draft. For example, we cut two executive committee positions so that we have a more centralized executive committee, we reduced the number of committees and increased checks and balances with our undergraduate senators.

We needed approval from at least two-thirds of the cohort members for the Columbia Climate Graduate Council, and luckily we were able to get approval from about 80% of the cohort members.

Even though the bylaws and bylaws were written by myself, it did take a village to actually develop them and finalize and approve the draft. So the bottom line is: community, community, community.

What’s the next step?

Dean Glover and Natalie Unwin-Kuruneri have been extremely supportive throughout the process and we are now in the final steps of getting the other deans to sign off on the council. It’s largely approved, and we’re working with the deans to configure the amount of funding that will be allocated to student government in order to create outreach networks, events, invited speakers, and other types of civic activities.

Have you worked in student administration before this?

During my undergraduate years, I was the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion (DEI) at my university. I have been involved in many coalition-building initiatives and policies that elevate diverse student communities on campus to support them and advocate on their behalf in administrative spaces where, unfortunately, they do not have a seat, and I do. It opened my eyes to the process of identifying issues or concerns, looking through our resources to see what can actually be done, and making those needs visible.

This position has led to other DEI jobs. I took a gap year between undergrad and graduate school, a large part of which I worked at Sundance Institute. I was involved in the decision-making process about promoting racial equity at the Institute and hearing stories about how we promoted artists from different communities – such as BIPOC artists or artists in the 18-25 category. Additionally, I support improving the work culture within Sundance.

What are your plans for summer?

I am currently doing an Environmental Justice Internship at NASA. There, I will try to better understand how environmental justice fits into the climate lens and how it emerges across different federal agencies.

I tend to find myself in areas that are still developing and growing because I want to develop and grow with them. For most of my life, I’ve found myself in a room where I’ve broken the glass ceiling in one way or another, whether through my own background or what I’ve advocated. With each new step, I want to ask, “How do we break through this time?”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.