Amid ongoing tensions at Fordham University, a bright light has presented itself. It was announced today via a press release that Fordham University’s President Rev. Joseph M. McShane S.J. has decided to  join 29 other colleges across the United States and support the #PutaPriceOnIt campaign by endorsing carbon pricing at the university. Fordham is the first Jesuit university to do so. As an institution that should foster learning and improvement through knowledge, Father McShane’s endorsement is a step in the right direction for the university.

The project was led by a group of hardworking and politically active students at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) who are working to combat climate change through civic engagement. #PutaPriceOnIt, a campaign that began in 2016 under the group Our Climate, has been working to price carbon and affect global warming on a national level. Their goal for 2017 was to receive Father McShane’s endorsement of the campaign. After months of leading the campaign, Sam Blackwood, FCLC ’19, and Kyle Kilkenny, FCLC ’19, have reaped the benefits of their hard work.

Blackwood and Kilkenny are both fellows for the group Our Climate, which aims to motivate younger generations who will continue to endure the effects of climate change by affecting positive policy change. The team held their first forum in February 2016, airing the documentary “Years of Living Dangerously,” followed by a panel discussion. They continued to work on the carbon pricing project, even creating a short video for the People’s Climate March on April 29. The video focused on why young people should be involved in the climate change movement, and it was eventually re-posted by fellow climate activist Leonardo DiCaprio on his personal Instagram.

#PutaPriceOnIt came in full force and has accomplished a number of its goals already. Father McShane’s endorsement of carbon pricing at Fordham is proof of the change students can affect on every level.