2022 Senior Class Gift to go to the Green Fund

The 2022 Senior Class Gift will be donated to the Green Fund, senior Class President Pranav Srivastava, Vice President Barnabas Shiferaw and other senior class officers have announced.

The Green Fund is an initiative through the Office of Sustainability that helps to support various environment-related student-led initiatives and projects. 

The Green Fund helps fund student-initiated projects like energy-efficient greenhouse cooling systems or solar arrays in on-campus buildings to help address the environmental footprint, social impact, and operating costs of campus facilities.

“From the seminal ecological stewardship of the First Nations to the Father of National Parks John Muir, and the creator of Earth Day Gaylord Nelson, Wisconsin’s rich history lays the foundation for our efforts to address climate change today,” Srivastava said.

Green Fund staff often assist students in these projects. Specifically, Ian Aley, the Green Fund Program Manager, has been influential in setting up the 2022 Senior Class Gift. Aley also helps students in campus sustainability projects through the Green Fund. 

The gift is in part an attempt to build on initiatives from the historic Pail and Shovel party,  a party elected to the Wisconsin Student Association in 1978.

“One of the University’s most influential organizations that championed climate forward thinking was the Pail and Shovel party,” said Shiferaw.

The Pail and Shovel party has historically been known for pranks and absurdity. It’s famous for placing pink flamingos on Bascom Hill in 1979 as well as placing a replica of the top part of the Statue of Liberty on the Lake Mendota ice, so it appeared the statue had been sink in the lake. Both pranks have become institutional traditions.

Each year, the Senior Class Officers select a different initiative for the Class Gift. Last year, the senior class gift was given to the Social Justice Hub, an organization committed to social justice initiatives and projects on campus.

The Senior Class Officials have asked all campus community members, along with UW friends and family to donate to the Green Fund class gift, if able. To donate, go here.