News Item
Pace University students Christina Thomas and Rowan Lanning win national Project Pericles' Debating for Democracy competition
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Elected officials praise students' proposed federal amendment to require an Environmental Impact Statement for the Coast Guard's controversial Hudson River anchorage plan; Students’ victory in prestigious 60-school event draws attention to critical environmental issue.
NEW YORK, NY, April 3 – Christina Thomas and Rowan Lanning, students in the Environmental Policy Clinic at Pace University’s Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, took the $3,000 first prize in the national Project Pericles' Debating for Democracy competition on Thursday at New School University.
Before a three-judge panel of former ranking government officials, Rowan and Christina defended their proposal to Congressman Jerrold Nadler to amend the Coast Guard and Marine Transportation Act to require an Environmental Impact Statement for the Coast Guard plan to create 43 oil-barge anchorages on the Hudson River. The plan currently enjoys a ‘categorical exclusion’ from the National Environmental Policy Act.
"Congratulations Christina and Rowan. Your win in this prestigious national competition is a victory for everyone in the Hudson Valley," said Senator Terrence Murphy. "Your detailed research project put further emphasis on what I have been saying since the Coast Guard ambushed us with this senseless proposal last spring - putting forty-three new anchorages on the Hudson River will threaten the environment, our safety and the economic stability of our riverfront communities. I look forward to continuing to work with the student advocates at Pace University to sink the Coast Guard's heinous proposal."
“We are extremely proud of Rowan and Christina for their stunning performance at the competition, and for representing Pace University with intelligence and distinction,” said John Cronin, Senior Fellow at the Dyson College Institute for Sustainability and the Environment. “Rowan and Christina, veterans of Pace’s Environmental Policy Clinic, presented a thoroughly researched, well-articulated argument, and answered a penetrating round of questioning from the well-prepared panel. The work of our students is a prime example of what we call the Dyson Advantage of the Pace Path, which provides students the opportunity to apply classroom theory directly to real-world experience.”
This marks the first year a Pace University team qualified for the final competition. With the $3,000 prize, Rowan and Christina plan to conduct a campaign to gain further congressional support, working with students from the member schools of the Environmental Consortium of Colleges and Universities.
Congressman Nadler represents Pace in Manhattan; his district borders a large swath of the Hudson; and he sits on the congressional committee that oversees the Coast Guard.
The fact that adding barge anchorages along Westchester’s Hudson River shoreline is excluded from the National Environmental Policy Act defies logic,” said Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino. “The work done by Christina and Rowan will go a long way to helping us keep pressure on the Federal Government to do the right thing.”
Other competing finalists in the competition were teams from Swarthmore College, Reed College, Carleton College and Maria College, each of which offered compelling and well-argued proposals of their own. In all, more than 60 schools entered the initial competition.
Debating for Democracy (D4D)™ is a distinctive campus-based program that represents the mission of Project Pericles in action. D4D promotes civic engagement and effective advocacy skills among a wide range of students. Through D4D on the Road™ workshops hosted on Periclean campuses, the D4D National Conference in New York City, the D4D Letters to an Elected Official Competition, and co-curricular programs on each campus, students acquire the tools and tactics they need to advance their issues and to get their messages to elected officials, fellow students, community groups, and the media.
“We feel so honored that we were able to attend and to present our work,” said Lanning. “We still have to decide exactly where we are going to put it but we want to implement the proposal that we laid out in our letter. We want to start a student outreach group and get the students more connected with the local government, local legislation and to be an active voice in this area.”
“We wouldn’t have been here at this amazing conference without Professor Cronin,” said Thomas. “We look forward to working with him to figure out exactly what we are going to do with the money and how we are going to implement the project. Thank you Pace and thank you Professor Cronin.”
The Pace Environmental Clinic is housed within the Department of Environmental Studies and Science of the Dyson College Institute for Sustainability and the Environment at Pace University. The Clinic trains students in professional policy and advocacy skills through hands-on casework on real-world issues. It is co-taught by Professors John Cronin and Michelle D. Land. Last May, The New York Times Editorial Board cited the Clinic for its work writing and lobbying the Elephant Protection Act, which passed unanimously in the New York State Senate.
About Dyson College Institute of Sustainability and the Environment: DCISE was established to address major issues in sustainability, resilience, the growing urbanization of the 21st century and the impact of these changes on the global environment, through multidisciplinary programs encompassing research, policy-making, education, and building greater community awareness and consensus on how to manage these issues.
About Dyson College of Arts and Sciences: Pace University’s liberal arts college, Dyson College offers more than 50 programs, spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional programs (including pre-medicine, pre-veterinary, and pre-law), as well as numerous courses that fulfill core curriculum requirements. The College offers access to numerous opportunities for internships, cooperative education and other hands-on learning experiences that complement in-class learning in preparing graduates for career and graduate/professional education choices.
About Pace University: Since 1906, Pace has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in Lower Manhattan and Westchester County, NY, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, College of Health Professions, School of Education, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. www.pace.edu
Media contact: Bill Caldwell, Pace, 212-346-1597, wcaldwell@pace.edu
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