Melissa Ogonowski ’09 “has taken Holy Cross by storm,” says Earl Peace, dean of the Class of 2009.
As a transfer student in fall 2006 she quickly distinguished herself as one of her class’ finest scholars, and instantly assumed the same energy and fervor that one might find in an upperclassman to become one of the College’s strongest proponents for making Holy Cross “green.”
“She’s a prime example of a student who takes to heart scholarship and leadership,” says Peace.
In the last year-and-a-half, Ogonowski, a political science major with an Environmental Studies concentration from Woodbridge, N.J., has encouraged the student body to use fluorescent lights in their dorm rooms (Eco-Action, in which she’s involved, has distributed more than 300 free bulbs since last year); advocated for making one of the two new ZipCars on campus a hybrid (the College ended up with a Toyota Prius); and urged the College to install a wind turbine on campus (a feasibility study is underway). Her enthusiasm for the subject even led this year’s Student Government Association leaders to create a new position: director of environmental concerns.
Ogonowski’s latest effort is hosting a Web cast as part of Focus the Nation’s National Teach-in on climate change on Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. in Hogan, Room 519. A discussion with Loren Cass, associate professor of Environmental Studies, will follow the event. Free T-shirts will be given to the first 75 people to attend the session, and free Clif-Bars will also be available. The event is one of many that the Environmental Studies Program is sponsoring this semester.
It’s appropriate that Cass, author of The Failures of American and European Climate Policy: International Norms, Domestic Politics, and Unachievable Commitments, will be available for discussion following the Web cast. It was his class, Comparative Environmental Policy, that encouraged Ogonowski to think about the future of the environment.
Her crusade will continue until she graduates — and probably beyond. As this year’s Earth Day coordinator at the Regional Environmental Council, garnered through the Academic Internship Program, Ogonowski will organize all Earth Day events for the city of Worcester on May 3. Her next major goal is to improve recycling on campus.
Ogonowski, who plans on attending law school to study environmental law, became familiar with Holy Cross after visiting friends on campus.
“I fell in love with the family environment,” she says. “Everyone’s so close and knows one another. It’s a very tight-knit community. I felt comfortable here and you can’t get better academics anywhere.”
Related Information:
A Climate of Change
Political science course on environment helps Holy Cross student find her calling
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