Lily Krug ‘24 (ANTH major, ENVS minor) and Dylan Campos ‘24 (ENVS and HIST major, GLEN minor) sat down to talk with us about Sunrise Movement Wesleyan’s first-ever zine! Read all about it, below!
Where did you find the inspiration to make this zine?
Lily Krug: When the Sustainability Strategic Plan (SSP) was first being implemented, I had an idea with Jen Kleindienst, director of the Sustainability Office, to create a zine. I really enjoy making them, and I thought it would be a cool way to disseminate information about the SSP! After the SSP was passed in spring 2022, the conversation about creating a zine came up again.
Last semester, Aviva Branoff ‘26 and Hannah Podol ‘25, who are our Sunrise Movement Wesleyan hub coordinators, began talking about finally creating it. We had just had an influx of new members, and we wanted to get their support on the SSP, which many members didn’t know about. When Anna Logan 25, another hub coordinator, came back from study abroad, she took on the role of leading the project with Aviva.
What was the creation process like?
Lily: At a hub meeting last semester, we planned what each frame would be. This semester we started fleshing out what the pages could look like, and then we were really building momentum. During one of our meetings we had a zine making event, where we split people into groups and gave them different pages based on their interests. We also had a folding event. It was a collective hub process, even though Dylan digitized it all.
Dylan Campos: I decided to put copies of the zine in unusual places. The plan is to keep printing them and folding them. We’re doing a challenge to find the zine, when everyone gets back from spring break!
Lily: At the end of March, we’ll be doing a social media campaign, which was the idea of our new social media manager Maya Nelson ‘27. When you find a copy of the zine on campus the week after spring break, take a selfie with it and DM it to Sunrise Movement Wesleyan’s Instagram account.
How has Sunrise Wesleyan been involved with the Sustainability Strategic Plan? What are your hopes for the SSP moving forward?
Lily: Sunrise has a really good relationship with Jen Kleindienst, director of the Sustainability Office. Sunrise has actually been involved in the SSP for a while, and I’ve been involved in the process of the SSP my entire college career.
Dylan: A lot of people have worked really hard on the SSP, and it will do a lot of good. However, there were definitely some parts of the plan that were cut. We talk about this in the zine, since our goal is to spread knowledge. Our zine is very honest, but also very appreciative and loving toward the SSP: A lot of information shared about the SSP is very positive, as it should be, but we do make sure to highlight that there were things removed that we believe would have really advanced sustainability at Wes.
It has only been about a year since the SSP has been officially approved, and it is still in the early implementation phase. The zine explores the timeline and history of the SSP and the challenges it continues to face. It also includes action items and ways to get involved in sustainability initiatives on campus, such as by joining Sunrise Movement Wesleyan, the Environmental Solidarity Network, Cultivating Justice, Wild Wes, Long Lane Farm, the Green Fund, or working directly with the Sustainability Office. It also features a QR code to the SSP, so students can read the SSP to fully understand the commitments Wesleyan has made.
What should people know about Sunrise Wesleyan? What are some of the projects you are working on now?
Lily: Sunrise Movement is a national youth action and environmental justice organization co-founded by Evan Weber ‘13, and Wesleyan Sunrise is our campus hub. We do environmental advocacy work on Wesleyan’s campus, in the Middletown community, and in the Greater Connecticut community. We have also worked on some national campaigns. Last semester we had a number of events, including with Connecticut state legislature representative Brandon Chafee and Middletown mayor Ben Forshleim ‘14.
Dylan: This semester we’re working on a hub version of the National Green New Deal Campaign. We’re also working with other colleges for potential Earth Day events and collaborating with other groups on campus, including the Environmental Solidarity Network and the Sustainability Office, to plan a campus celebration, potentially similar to Talia Zitner’s (‘23) Garden Festival last year. We will also be having a movie screening of a really cool compilation of short films in different mediums—live action, animation, stop action—and different genres—drama, documentary, dark comedy—from the Climate Future Film Festival. The screening will take place on April 24.
How can people join Sunrise Wesleyan?
Dylan: Everyone’s welcome to join us at our hub meetings, Thursdays at noon in Usdan 104D. And they can also DM the Sunrise Instagram @sunrisemvmtwesleyan for more information or send us an email at sunrise.mvmt@wesleyan.edu.
Why should people read your zine?
Dylan: I think people will like our zine, and should read it, and the SSP, if they get the chance. Generally speaking, we want students to push for more sustainability on campus because it’s an issue that will impact all of us.
Lily: I think we did a really good job of compiling a longer document that is the SSP into information that’s easily digestible, and so I want to say… Read the zine! Read the zine! And it’s really cute and pretty, and we worked really hard on it, and I’m very proud of it!