A new club on campus wants to reignite Dickinson’s passion for sustainability and environmentalism, while creating a more inclusive space for the discussion of environmental issues.

The club is currently being referred to as the “Tree-club,” although it is not affiliated with the Center for Sustainable Living, commonly known as the “Treehouse.”  It is not necessary to live in the Treehouse to be a member of the club.

The the Tree-club is intended to fill a void that was left by the dissolution of both EarthNow and Students Interested in Sustainable Agriculture (SISA), two environmental clubs which died out during the spring of 2015.  The decision to replace these clubs came about during fall 2015, and the idea was to create a non-academic, non-institutional space for the discussion of environmental issues.

“It’s pretty sad about Dickinson, that we’re so sustainable but there’s no club anymore about the environment on campus,” said Caitlin Doak ’16, resident of the Treehouse and one of the people helping to put the Treehouse Club together for next semester.

“When I was president of [EarthNow]…we didn’t see much to do since sustainability is so institutionalized at Dickinson, with the Center for Sustainability Education (CSE) and Eco-Reps and stuff like that. EarthNow was started a long time ago, before CSE started, when there was a lot to be done on campus. Now there’s less to be done, and CSE is paying students to do things, and there’s a lack of personal interest,” said Doak. School sponsored sustainability efforts such as CSE and the farm sprang up after the creation of EarthNow and SISA, and they began to take over jobs that those clubs were set up to do. But the Treehouse Club hopes to function more as an environmental interest club that focuses on promoting discussion of environmental issues on campus, rather than an activism club that tries to replicate CSE.

“[Current barriers to entry] create an exclusivity that may dissuade members of the community who want to be less involved, or simply lack experience. By its very nature [things like CSE] are exclusive, says Ivy Gilbert, current Eco-Rep coordinator.

“It’s really to reignite passion in students who care about [the environment] and do it in a non-academic, non-work related, non institutional setting,” said Doak.

So far, the club has been met with widespread support among the student body, especially among first-years who feel it is tough to get involved in sustainability on campus.

“A lot of first years who came to Dickinson due to our affiliation with sustainability find that when they get here, there’s nothing for them to do, except for apply to be an eco-rep, or apply to be a CSE intern, which you can’t do as a first year. So there’s nothing for them to do,” says Doak.

The club, while not fully active yet, has been semi-active this semester in helping to plan Earthfest and other related events. The club plans to become fully active in fall 2016, and they hope to start holding regular meetings and planning activities such as bringing students to rallies or organizing park cleanups.

The executive board for 2016 will consist of Ivy Gilbert ’18 as president, Rachel Gross ’19 as vice president, Billy Irving ’19 as treasurer and Rachael Moore ’18 as secretary.