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BIDDEFORD, Maine

UNE students join the People’s Climate March

A group of UNE students traveled to New York City, Sunday, September 21, 2014, to participate in the People’s Climate March, the largest climate demonstration in history. The march attracted more than 310,000 activists who walked a route through Manhattan to demonstrate their support for a world safe from climate change.

The 48 UNE students marched in the “We Can Build the Future“ section, along with 50,000 students from 320 other colleges and universities, including Bates, Bowdoin, Yale, Vassar, Amherst, Princeton and Swarthmore.

​ "I got to be part of history," said Victoria Sanchez '17. "The march allowed me to talk to so many people and get different viewpoints on environmental issues."

The march was organized to send a strong message to the world leaders attending the United Nations Climate Summit on September 23 that it's time for them to attend more seriously to the realities of climate change.

Christopher Watt, a senior double majoring in Biology and Environmental Science, helped organize the UNE trip. The Maine Chapter of the Sierra Club subsidized the bus so that students could afford the trip. Four faculty members from the Environmental Studies Department accompanied the students. 

Cody Duckworth, a second-year student, commented that the day was “liberating and intensely inspiring in the most peaceful way possible.” 

“I was amazed and delighted at the diversity of people who were at the march,” said Sarah Cowles '15. “There were clearly people of all different races, walks of life, and backgrounds. It was such a powerful event to be part of, and I'm so glad that I was able to attend.”

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.