Rebecca Kennedy, 21 year-old senior psychology major, is not the average leopard. Serving as a senator in the student government, ASULV, for three years, Rebecca has made huge strides toward making La Verne a green sustainable campus.
“I think that a lot of the students really don’t have a say in what they want to change in terms of making the campus green sustainable, so I feel like it is up to me to make things happen, even if it is little by little,” Rebecca said.
Over the course of her time at La Verne, Rebecca has had the opportunity to work on several green sustainable projects for the campus community.
“Early on when I first started being involved with the Green Committee in ASULV we were able to do a water bottle refill station project and were able to get a few installed,” Rebecca said.
The water bottle refill stations are located in the Campus Center, the Arts and Communications Building and Vista La Verne.
“That was really cool because it replaced a water fountain that had basically wasted water so by putting in this station we are saving water and it is filtered water too so it is not going through harsh chemicals and metals in the plumbing” Rebecca said.
Currently the longest standing member of the Green Committee in ASULV, Rebecca has not only gone out of her way to represent the opinions of the students but has also taken on several green projects this school year
“We have done recycling drives and recently we just did a pledge for recycling so students can not only get informed about what they can recycle but gain the idea of reusing things and not just throwing things away. I was also involved in a project that changed the trash cans, which are fairly new so that there are specific cans for specific things. I think little things like that are helpful toward making the campus more sustainable,” she said.
Other than improving the campus, Rebecca’s desire to improve the environment goes further into her everyday life.
“Personally I have always had a passion for sustainability and improving the lifestyle I live and the environment, so I think that it is really cool to improve an entire institution in any way that I can.”
If she could see her dream project transpire on campus it would be to create a parking structure with solar panels along the top. She said that the solar panels would be able to provide energy that could fuel lights inside of the structure.
She would like to see is making every single building with solar panels so that the sun is powering electricity in every area of the campus.
Rebecca has been involved with Psi Chi honor society, Latino Student Union and Alpha Lambda Delta along with ASULV.