On Wednesday, February 18, Wes students, faculty, and staff joined former state rep Christine Palm, founding director, The Active Voice, for From Campus to the Capitol: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Transforming Wesleyan Student Voices into Connecticut Environmental Policy Change. The event was sponsored by the Bailey College of the Environment.
events
coe sponsored and cosponsored events. A full list of upcoming events can be found on FB @wesleyancoe or IG @wes_coe.
spring 2026 activism & advocacy series
The Bailey COE, in conjunction with students, is launching a new Activism & Advocacy Workshop Series this spring. Workshops aim to share concrete skills with students, faculty, staff, and community members to influence policy and make change locally, regionally, and beyond.
Turning Food Justice Into state Policy
On Wednesday, February 3, Wesleyan was honored to welcome Randall Mel, Jr., director of Wellness and Nutrition Services for Middletown Public Schools, to facilitate a workshop about the state legislative process, food justice advocacy, and how students can get involved. Attended by members of food justice organizations from all across the state, as well as Wesleyan students and faculty, the workshop gave attendees concrete and actionable advice to begin influencing policy in Connecticut. The event was the first in a series of Activism & Advocacy Workshops being held this spring.
Mel drew from his personal experience as a food advocate working in the Middletown Public Schools, as well as with End Hunger CT. He began the workshop by going over the schedule and structure of the Legislature, emphasizing that even during small “budget adjuster” legislative sessions, like 2026, student voices can have a powerful impact on maintaining funding for important programs.
A Workshop on Indigenous Food History with Xochitl Garcia
By Ikimot Siyanbola
Note* The terms Native American and Indigenous are used interchangeably in this blog, but it’s important to know that Indigenous is an umbrella term that not all Native Americans may accept.
On September 22nd, Rooted Solidarity was honored to welcome Xochitl Garcia to Wesleyan to deliver a workshop about Indigenous food history. The workshop primarily focused on how Indigenous food history has been hidden, obscuring the crucial contributions of Native people to our food system. Participants included community members, as well as Wesleyan students, faculty and staff. Attendees learned through doing, as the workshop consisted of playing trivia to test our knowledge.
garden fest in bloom: a celebration of community & creativity
Garden Fest is more than just an event—it’s a colorful, collaborative celebration where art meets activism, where music fills the air, and where the greater Wesleyan community comes together to celebrate spring!
Now in its third year, Garden Fest started as a senior thesis by environmental studies and English major Talia Zitner ’23 who dreamed up a non-traditional Earth Day honoring the many intersecting aspects of environmentalism. Since then, the tradition has been carried on by the Environmental Solidarity Network (ESN) and the student music collective The Shed, with co-sponsorship from the Bailey College of the Environment and others.
A Watershed Moment: The Second Annual Connecticut Enviro Summit
On Saturday, April 5, Wesleyan’s Beckham Hall became a hub of energy, inquiry, and collaboration as the Bailey College of the Environment co-hosted the second annual Connecticut River Valley Environmental Summit. The event, organized by the Connecticut River Museum and cosponsored by the Bailey COE, brought together a broad coalition of local voices—scientists, policymakers, academics, nonprofit leaders, and cultural institutions—all united by one shared goal: protecting the health of the region’s waterways for generations to come.
Between a series of insightful presentations, attendees mingled and spoke with the poster presenters lining the walls, which included Wesleyan students, professors, and marine science educators. The room buzzed with multi-disciplinary energy.
middletown gov guide hopes to increase public participation
This year, I’ve had the opportunity to work in the Wesleyan Sustainability Office as a part of the Sustainable Middletown program, a small but energetic team composed of our Sustainability Director Jen Kleindienst, Professor Emeritus Krishna Winston, co-intern Tamira Le, and myself. Our team has spent the last year revising the Middletown Government Participation Guide, a publicly available document meant to remove barriers to civic engagement by providing residents with clear information about how the City government works, how to participate in public meetings, and how to sustain long-term involvement. By removing those barriers, we hope to empower Middletown residents to make their voices heard in local government.
Two weeks ago, I had the honor of hosting the launch of the newly updated Middletown Government Participation Guide alongside the Sustainable Middletown team and Mayor Ben Florsheim.