If you’ve ever been to a fair trade event, you’ve probably met Ryan Knipple, President of the Fair Trade Club and Chair of the Global Actions & Concerns Committee at the Women’s Center! We sat down with Ryan to talk about fair trade, campus involvement, and their majors!
Name: Ryan Knipple
Class Year: 2017
Major: I’m a poli-sci and a French major with a minor in women’s, gender and sexuality studies.
Favorite spot on campus: There’s a little section with records in the bottom of the library that I like!
Favorite food: There’s this brand of chocolate called Alter-Eco that has dark chocolate with quinoa, and it’s like a Crunch bar, but healthier and better for the world!
HC Siena: What is your favorite thing about Siena?
Ryan Knipple: Probably my favorite thing about Siena is that — why I’m most thankful for being at Siena — is it introduced me to concepts of fair trade and it’s nice to see an institution follow through on its commitments to justice sometimes.
HC Siena: What are you involved with on campus?
RK: Let’s see, I’m president of Siena Students for Fair Trade and I sit on the Fair Trade Steering Committee. I’m head of the Global Actions and Concerns Committee at the Women’s Center. I’m a Solidarity Advisor at Damietta Cross-Cultural Center. I’m Secretary of Siena College Democrats. I’m also involved in Pride-GSA and Political Science Society.
HC Siena: For those who do not know, what is fair trade and why was it important?
RK: Well, fair trade is kind of an alternate trade system where workers get paid living wages and there’s no child labor involved and everyone that buys a fair trade product pays a premium that goes to healthcare and community development in each of these communities that has a fair trade cooperative. So it’s really about paying people sustainable wages to live their lives, especially in places that may not have as strict standards as the U.S. or the E.U. I mean, it’s really important because regardless of where people live, they deserve to be paid fairly for the work that they do and our current trade system heavily favors more economically privileged societies and takes the focus away from the person and just focuses on the price. Plus, years of capitalism and imperialism has definitely played a part in which societies are privileged. In a way, fair trade is really just paying people properly for the work that they’re doing.
HC Siena: Wow, you’re involved in a lot! Why do you think it’s important to be involved on campus?
RK: I just think it opens you up to a whole new set of opportunities than you imagined for yourself. Coming into college, I didn’t imagine myself doing half the things I’m doing; I didn’t know about fair trade, I didn’t know that Siena even had a Women’s Center. I think that just getting involved and finding things you’re passionate about is really important.
HC Siena: Do you have any advice for people looking to become more involved?
RK: I’d probably just tell people to take initiative: show up to that meeting that you don’t know anything about but seems interesting. Volunteer to help with a program. Run for a club that you’re involved in. I think if you put yourself out there, opportunities will show themselves.
HC Siena: Why did you choose to become a political science and French major?
RK: It’s kind of weird. I originally came in as a French education major and then I dropped both French and education. I had a French minor for a while, but I only decided that I really wanted the major after a trip to Montreal, which really re-ignited my passion for the language. I took a government class in high school that really sparked my interest in political science and I feel that understanding the field and political world is good no matter what you want to do in your life. And I feel that the political sector is a really good way to push for change.
HC Siena: What’s your favorite part about your majors?
RK: French culture is probably the best part about being a French major. I’ve always just been interested in how other people live. I think political science is just fascinating because it’s interwoven into every aspect of how we live and how we see the world. Plus all the teachers are fantastic.
HC Siena: What’s your favorite class you’ve taken at Siena?
RK: Well, I took a class called Media & Gender Activism that I liked because it really challenged the way that I saw things and made me much more cognizant of things that I previously would have let go unnoticed or unchallenged and I think that it shaped a lot of the way I see the world today.
HC Siena: What are some of your favorite things to do in your free time?
RK: I quite enjoy watching cooking competitions on the Food Network and having picnics!