Written by Cassidy Johnson | Archived Nov. 9, 2020

Thanks to the help of student David Herrera Santacruz, the UMD campus will now benefit from a Student Director of Sustainability position.

“I always wondered why we only had one sustainability position on campus,” Santacruz said.

Santacruz got the idea of adding this position after a visit to the University of Minnesota conference called “Self-sustain.” On the drive back David told the director of sustainability for the Duluth campus, Mindy Granley, that he thought Duluth should have a student position. With Mindy’s support he decided to make this idea a reality.  

David then reached out to Mike Kenyanya, student body president, last spring and discussed over numerous meetings why there was a need for the position.

“This position will allow for someone to not only push to make campus more sustainable but to also represent the students and what they want,” Santacruz said, “The UMD campus has a long ways to go.”

With the support of Kenyanya, he took the idea to congress and proposed the new student director of sustainability position. After the proposition David met with congress regularly until the position passed unanimously on Sept. 28.

Since the position is new to the school, Kenyanya said that the position will be crafted as they go. He said like any new position it will be a learning experience but that they are very excited to see what they can accomplish.

“Essentially sustainability goes beyond florescent light bulbs and solar panels,” Kenyanya said. “We need to have someone who really holds us accountable I think that is super important.”

Although the election was really close between two dedicated students, David was ultimately elected by congress for the position.

Santacruz said he is excited to get to work and represent the students on making our campus more sustainable.