Moravian Student Lily Roblin on Changing the World

You might have passed student Lily Roblin on Moravian's campus. 

If you saw her, you probably didn't expect that she worked on a Greenpeace campaign in Tokyo, or that she led a group of Moravian students to the youth-driven climate change conference PowerShift in D.C. (where she spoke in front of hundreds of people). Lily is petite, with straight blond hair that frames a friendly face. She speaks softly, slowly, and precisely. This 22 year-old has a lot to say.

You go, Lily.

I first met Lily last year, when she contacted ECO to see if we would support her in bringing students to PowerShift. Lily, Gina Seier (ECO President), Alyssa Flowers, Megan Re (founder of Peace and Justice Club), Connor Stone, and myself all attended. 

We went to breakout sessions and presentations that taught us how to help our campuses become better informed and better equipped to fight for social and environmental justice. Bill McKibben, founder of the grassroots climate change organization 350.org and author of some seriously kick-ass books, spoke at that rally. Gina and I even got to meet him! 

Moravian students at PowerShift. Left to Right: Me, Gina Seier,
Connor Stone, Alyssa Flowers, Lily Roblin, and Megan Re

Gina, stunned to be rallying next to Bill McKibben

A cool aside: Monday night, Bill McKibben was on the Colbert Report to talk about the environmental impacts of the Keystone XL Pipeline that would run from Alberta Canada to Texas. Cool, relevant stuff!

Because we're both such busy gals, I made a Facebook messaging date with Lily, to learn more about her.

Lily is an Environmental Economics and Policy major at Moravian. She transfered here last year from the University of Toronto.

We got right down to the good stuff, though.

Me: What's the coolest thing you've ever done?

Lily: I'd have to say the coolest thing i've ever done is fly the Greenpeace hot air balloon.  It was during an anti-nuke campaign in Vermont. We were organizing the community in Montpelier to shut down a decrepit, leaky and dangerous nuclear power plant, the Vermont Yankee

The Greenpeace hot air balloon Lily got to ride in.

Me: And the hot air balloon was to spread awareness for the cause?

Lily: Yep, it was an attraction at one of our events.

Me: Awesome. It seems like Greenpeace has been a big part of your life. How did you get involved with that organization?

Lily: I had been donating to Greenpeace and signing petitions online ever since I'd become politically aware when I was a teenager. During my second year in university, I was feeling really detached and uninvolved politically, and I wanted to change that, and I happened upon this program called the Greenpeace Organizing Term. The "GOT" was a semester with Greenpeace where students were trained for two months in campaigning and grassroots organizing, and then sent on both a domestic and international campaign. I worked on an anti-nuke campaign in Vermont and then an awareness campaign in Tokyo, Japan.

Me: And at this point you were at another university right?

Lily: Yep, this was during my time at University of Toronto.

Me: Thought so! And from working with you for PowerShift, I know Greenpeace helped you become the leader you are today.

So here's my question: 

What kinds of positive changes 

would you like to make at Moravian, 

now that you're here?

Lily: Small colleges are an ideal environment for making progressive change. I would love to see Moravian become more sustainable and less dependent on fossil fuel energy sources. I would love to see all new construction on campus equipped with alternative energy technologies - there are so many available to us today, not to utilize those resources is a real wasted opportunity.

Last semester I was focused on Powershift. I haven't found a new project I've been as passionate about, but I have a few ideas. I'd really like to do something with the training I did in anti-oppression at Greenpeace. I'd love to see students at Moravian more aware of some of the oppressive language and behaviors that pervade our society today, and see how we could confront that as a campus community.

Lily sharing her story at PowerShift 2011

Me: That sounds like it would be a great place to start in the movement towards the goals you first expressed. As environmental studies people, we know how hard it is to make positive change.

So imagine you ruled the world for a day, 

and could lay down 3 rules. 

What would they be?

Lily: 

1. Comprehensive public transit in every city
2. Eliminate corporate interest. Bill McKibben said at an Occupy Wall Street rally that we need to occupy Wall Street because Wall Street has been occupying the atmosphere. This really resonated with me.
3. Make education more accessible. One of the most difficult parts of many social and environmental movements is confronting ignorance of issues, and if more people were informed I think much more could be done.

Me: I was just at a conference this weekend and we were basically workshopping how to bring the truth to the public. So along the same lines as your response, you became informed, and you found your passion for environmental and social justice.

Did it start with Greenpeace or even earlier?

Lily: It started earlier! My grandfather was a politician, and I was always listening to discussions about current issues at the dinner table. I started being politically active in my sophomore year of high school, when I became active with the Young Democrats. I tried to start a feminist club, with no luck really. Despite going to a very large school no members of the faculty would agree to being the club's advisor. Throughout high school I organized speaking panels about current issues like Supreme Court appointments and benefits for causes I felt strongly about, like the genocide in Darfur.

Me: I had a feeling it started earlier.

What's your advice for people, 

especially young people, 

who are trying to sort out what they hear?

How can they become informed citizens? And if they want to make change, how should they get started?

Lily: I am still trying to figure this out myself! I've found the best thing to do is to get at least a few different opinions on a subject before you make up your mind about it. Talk to everyone. Find an independent news source (read: not broadcast networks, not Rupert Murdoch, not anything that runs ads from huge corporations that have an interest in manipulating information). 

Some of my favorite news sources are Democracy Now (democracynow.org), Ms. Magazine (msmagazine.com), and Mother Jones (motherjones.com).

Making a change can be simple or impossible. There is a lot to be said for starting small and finding your footing. Before taking on any big projects, everyone should probably take an objective look at their own life first. Find a way to eliminate wastefulness in your day to day life, examine the language you use and your behavior - if it's oppressive ("gay," "slut," etc) address that personally and find a better way to express yourself. Talk to the people in your life about making positive change, and on a larger scale work as a community to address big issues.

Me: Terrific. Did I miss anything?

Lily: I <3 Moravian. 

"We all have a capacity to make change, 

don't let anythingmake you feel immobilized politically/socially, 
power to the people. 

Right on."

Right on, Lily. Thanks so much for letting me interview you.