Binghamton freshman given feminist climate book meant to 'rapidly, radically reshape society'
Binghamton provided new students with editions of 'All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis,' which promotes feminist, climate activism.
The book is recommended by the school's Common Read Experience program, which was launched in 2020 for students to 'dig deeply into issues of racial inequality.'
To acclimate new undergraduates to campus life, Binghamton University has provided first-year students with copies of a book that promotes the “feminine and more faithfully feminist“ emerging activism of the “climate movement.”
Over the summer, the school encouraged new students to join the Common Read Experience program in order to read and discuss, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis. Filled with poems and essays by over 60 women, the book “offer[s] a spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can rapidly, radically reshape society.”
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Binghamton’s Common Read Experience enables new students to “gain new perspectives on the most important issues of our days, learn how to engage in constructive dialogue and debate, and acclimate to the intellectual life of a premier university.”
The school provided new students with a free copy of All We Can Save during summer orientation and at welcome week. Although participation in the program is not required, it is still “highly recommended.”
Each year, the Common Read Experience recommends a new book for incoming students to explore, typically on subjects related to promoting diversity and increasing awareness on inequality.
Binghamton suggests that the reading program is a great way for incoming freshmen and transfers to connect with new friends while reflecting on greater societal problems.
According to the school, “The Common Read Experience was piloted for new students in 2020 as a way to build foundational connections for students residing on campus during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to dig deeply into issues of racial inequality, discriminatory policing and judicial practices that were brought into intense focus after the tragic death of George Floyd and the spirited protests that arose associated with the Black Lives Matter movement.”
All We Can Save was edited by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a climate change activist and co-founder of the intersectional Urban Ocean Lab. The work was also edited by Katharine Wilkinson, whose activism also features an intersectional approach with concepts such as “ecofeminism” and “climate feminism.”
Campus Reform contacted Binghamton University, members of the Common Read Experience steering committee, Johnson, and Wilkinson for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
