Van Jones, a renowned environmentalist, drew a standing ovation when he began his lecture Tuesday night by praising student efforts to divest from fossil fuels at Syracuse University.

“Not one dollar … quarter … dime … or penny that these students invest in tuition should be used to hurt the future,” Jones said, sporting one of the orange Divest X patches on his suit jacket. Many students in the crowd stood and applauded Jones’s statement.

Earlier Tuesday afternoon, Divest SU and ESF held a rally outside Hendricks Chapel calling for the university to divest its endowment from the fossil fuel industry. Four hours later, Jones gave a lecture in Hendricks as the first speaker in this year’s University Lecture Series. During his talk, Jones discussed sustainability and green energy.

Ella Mendonsa, one of the student leaders of the divest rally, referred to Jones as a “celebrity in the environmental world.”

“He is going to help us learn more about working through the system here at the university to create change,” she said.

Jones’s lecture occurred almost a week after the People’s Climate March in New York City, which more than 100 SU and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students attended. He also praised those who participated in the march, naming Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore alongside the students.

Jones jokingly lamented that he felt offended when he was asked to walk in the middle of the protesters at the People’s Climate March, and not in the front of the march. But as he was walking to his designated place in the center of the crowd, he said he quickly noticed the faces of indigenous, young and poor people passing by. He said that these were the faces of people that are most deeply impacted by climate change.

Devon Huck, a junior industrial interaction design major, said the presence of Jones on campus speaks to the commitment the SU community has to sustainability.

“It highlights the Syracuse dedication to sustainability as an organization as well as a student body interest,” he said.

Jones also called for a society powered by life, as opposed to current society, which he said is powered by death. Jones, citing scientific research, added that there is enough wind energy in the Midwest to power the whole country.

“Coal is a substance that has been dead for 300 million years,” he said. “You shouldn’t be shocked when you get death in the form of asthma.”

Christina Costa, a freshman anthropology and biology dual major, said Jones’s comment about coal power was very memorable.

“What really stuck with me was the phrase that he said, how our world was run on death,” she said.

Jones ended the lecture by giving a call to action to SU students.

“What you do on this campus matters,” he said.

As the lecture moved to the question and answer session, many of the students who participated in the Divest SU rally could be heard from the inside of Hendricks, rallying again outside.

But this time students could be seen standing outside the chapel in the pouring rain with a sign made of lights that said “Divest SU” as lightning flashed in the sky.

Published on October 1, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Michael: mjriccar@syr.edu