A team of De Anza students was awarded the first annual Student Action Award at the 2014 American Democracy Project/The Democracy Commitment National Meeting.
The students won the award based on their successful advocating that the Foothill-De
Anza Foundation divest from fossil fuel companies.
The Democracy Commitment Student Action Award is given to a student project aimed at addressing a significant political and/or social issue. The project must be led by students, with faculty and staff in an advisory role, and it must demonstrate the organizing skills of the group. Award recipients Karen Quigley, Cecilia Ng and Karla Navarro are pictured above with Cynthia Kaufman, Director, ICCE; Kathleen Santora, President, Foothill-De Anza Foundation Board of Directors; Brian Murphy, President, De Anza; and Martin Neiman, Treasurer, Foothill-De Anza Foundation Board of Directors. Mounia O'Neal, Samya Abdela and Ashley Snyder also received the award.
Last October, the Foundation became the first community college foundation in the country to vote to discontinue direct investments in fossil fuel companies and minimize investments in assets that include such companies. The Foundation cited the students' efforts as a chief reason for the vote. The board set a deadline of June 30, 2014, to divest from companies with the largest holdings of unburned carbon reserves as determined using Fossil Free’s Carbon Tracker of the top 200 fossil fuel companies.
TDC is a national initiative to develop and expand opportunities for community college students to engage in civic learning and democratic practices. The goal of TDC is to ensure every graduate of an American community college has had an education in democracy.
Back row (left to right): Mia Hernandez, Samba Njie, Kristine Low, Ben Pacho, Cynthia
Kaufman,
Myah Rodriguez, Karla Navarro; Front row: Tram Pham, Karen Chow, Rowena Tomaneng,
Desiree Berdejo