Claire Reynolds
Griffith, Calvin Wood, Mateos Lozano, Hailey Smith and Kyle Parks take a field trip to the
Oxford Community Market. Photo courtesy of UM Environmental Coalition.
The UM Environmental Coalition is a green-focused organization that has been helping students find their own sense of community at the University of Mississippi, while also promoting environmental activism since its founding in 2021.
“We talk about a bunch of different topics within environmentalism and sustainability. We try to talk about all of our members’ own unique interests,” ECO Vice President and sophomore biology and anthropology double major Hailey Smith said. “We have some people who are interested in personal consumerism, some people who are interested in policy, some people who are interested in scientific research. We try to touch on all those things at our different meetings. In general, we talk about environmentalism and sustainability and promote both of those things within campus and the community.”
The organization is completely free for students to join. According to the ForUM, almost 150 UM students have joined the club. Because of this following, junior public policy leadership major and ECO President Mateos Lozano he feels a strong sense of fellowship among others who want a greener Oxford and Ole Miss.
“I think ECO has given me a sense of community,” Lozano said. “A little cliche, but especially in my early high school days with environmental activist stuff, I kind of felt really isolated. I knew there was a bunch of interest in environmental movements out there — I could see it on social media — but just because of whatever circumstance, I couldn’t see it in my day-to-day. For something like ECO, I really do appreciate that we have a bunch of people come to meetings every week, and we get to talk about stuff we’re passionate about. I think really just the sense of community is something I appreciate.”
Though Smith and Lozano have different majors, both are minoring in environmental science. Their passion for the well-being of the planet is much more than a collegiate interest. Smith, being raised near the Gulf Coast, experienced the effects of both Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
“It made me start thinking about how global warming is impacting the quality of life for marginalized communities, and people on the coast and people in the Global South, things like that,” Smith said. “I just became an environmental activist after that, and so ECO was a really good outlet for me to discuss that and try to create a network with other people interested in the same thing.”
In honor of Earth Month, the group will participate in Ecofest in the Circle on April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will act as an involvement fair for environmentally oriented clubs at the university including Aquaculture, the Beekeeping Club, Garden Club, Hill Country Roots and Oxford Community Market’s Grow Club.
Ecofest aims to spread awareness of the many organizations on campus aimed at connecting students with the knowledge and resources they need to ensure the planet’s health for future generations.
“Before getting involved with ECO and other numerous environmental organizations on campus, I really didn’t know anything about environmental opportunities. Like, what is the Office of Sustainability? What is the environmental science minor? I didn’t know they even existed for a long time,” Lozano said. “It’s really wonderful just to know that environmental opportunities are out there. It’s just a little hard finding them sometimes, but that’s part of the process.”
For those interested in helping make the community more green, ECO meets every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in room 214 Lamar Hall.
