At 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, over 40 students gathered in front of Wilder Hall beneath a banner that read “this is a climate emergency” to call for climate action in the aftermath of former president Donald Trump’s election to the presidency Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Students then marched to Tappan Square chanting and holding signs with the words “people over corporations” and “six years left,” in reference to the amount of time before experts say the effects of climate change will become irreversible. In Tappan Square, they sat in front of the bandstand gazebo to listen to speeches by organizers and other participants.
The rally was one of numerous coordinated walkouts that occurred at over 30 high schools, colleges, and universities. The walkouts were planned by the national Sunrise Movement, which is dedicated to advocating for environmental sustainability and the Green New Deal. College third-year and Sunrise’s Hub Coordinator Lilly Dodson said the walkouts were planned before the election; however, organizers of Oberlin’s Sunrise hub only decided to get involved after the results were announced. College first-year and statewide Sunrise Liaison Kristina Birkeland and College second-year and Sunrise Hub Delegate Max Julius similarly said that the event was organized on the fly, with publicity spread mostly by word of mouth between friends and acquaintances and posters made the morning of the event.
“One of the big goals was to tell people that there is this community of people who still care about the climate,” Birkeland said. “We’re still fighting for it. And it was like almost an invitation for people who felt the same way as the Sunrise Movement to come in to join the Sunrise Movement. So it was very community building-centric.”
Birkeland directly addressed concerns that rallying in heavily progressive Oberlin would be ineffective while speaking to the crowd on Friday.
“I’ve had a lot of people ask me today, and I’ve also asked myself, ‘Why today?’” she said. “Why are we here in Oberlin where all of our peers and most of our neighbors voted Democratic down the ballot?”
She characterized the rally as “a call to action” with the goal of encouraging involvement in climate-related causes, adding that it was also in solidarity with Sunrise walkouts across the country, including many that were in areas where environmental policies were less popular.
The recent election appeared to weigh heavily on the minds of those attending Friday’s rally. Though speeches centered around the environmental impact of electing former president Donald Trump, who has promised to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and undo much of President Joe Biden’s policy on the environment, speeches also touched on many concerns. These included LGBTQ+ rights, access to abortion, and Project 2025, and included a common message of coming together and caring for one another as a community in the wake of the election.
“I think there were a lot of strong feelings and a lot of momentum going on for people to get involved with something because they’re feeling scared or angry,” Dodson said. “And it was a good moment to kind of capitalize on those emotions and inspire people to start taking action.”
So far, Oberlin Sunrise’s goal of mobilizing students appears to have been successful. Dodson said she was impressed by the turnout at Friday’s rally, which Julius said was much larger than previous Sunrise events. Julius also said Sunrise’s regular meeting on Sunday saw twice as much attendance as usual.
At the rally, Julius reminded the crowd that Sunrise developed during the last Trump administration. He said the movement has big plans for the next four years, including general strikes, with the goals of combatting the Trump administration’s proposed rollback of climate protections and ensuring that presidential candidates in 2028 will have a substantial climate platform.
Dodson said that Oberlin Sunrise has yet to develop a specific action plan for the next four years, though they have some ongoing projects and others in development. In the coming week, Sunrise members will be penning letters to the editor to newspapers in Ohio and their home communities to try to get the attention of elected representatives and increase awareness on climate issues.
