Pledge stress responsible careers

photo by Juan Garcia

Debbie Roberts, campus minister and director of peace studies, with students in charge of organizing the peace fair, worked in the graduation booth last Tuesday. Pledging seniors will be wearing a green ribbon on their gowns.

by Dora Galván
Assistant Editor

As the semester winds down to its last weeks, graduating seniors are faced with many decisions.

A few of the career-oriented services offered at the University of La Verne included the career fair where businesses accepted student resumes. The Career Development Center encouraged students to apply for jobs and advisors and guided students through the internship process.

Although making money is a top priority for a college graduate, the university takes the role a ULV graduate plays in the community and the world seriously.

In order to promote social and environmental responsibility for graduating seniors, ULV has joined with the nationally recognized Graduation Pledge Alliance (GPA).

The pledge is designed to make college grads aware of the different social and environmental consequences that could rise when employed.

The pledge reads: I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work.

Debbie Roberts, protestant campus minister and the director of peace studies, helped in founding the GPA, knowing that education is a building block toward making a difference.

"Thinking of the consequences of your job and how it affects the environment is a way of continuing to build community and acting out your education," Roberts said.

"The GPA goes along with the life learning process, it goes along with being considerate of the health of the planet and its people, which our mission statement mandates," she said.

Roberts said that since ULV's mission statement is rooted in the traditions of the Church of the Brethren, which prioritizes community building and peacemaking, the GPA is a way of reminding graduating students of these values once they leave ULV.

Founded at Humboldt State University in the late 1980s, the GPA has been a part of commencement for more than one hundred schools ranging from Harvard University to the University of Kansas, and now ULV.

Roberts said the pledge is not a commitment, but more of a tool to challenge students when making career-motivated decisions.

"It doesn't mean you're pledging to do something in particular, in terms of choosing or not choosing a job," Roberts said.

"It means you're pledging to think about what you're doing; and that's not real risky, that's a part of who we are all our lives," she said.

The pledge is also one step toward taking responsibility for social and environmental injustices in the work place, Roberts said.

A few examples stated in the pledge's statement include starting up recycling programs, promoting women in management, or decreasing discriminatory language in manuals.

In order to pledge, graduating seniors sign a pledge card and a poster located in the student center.

At commencement, graduating seniors will wear a green ribbon indicating they are part of the national alliance.

Students carry the pledge card in their wallet which reminds them of the pledge they took in relation to the role they play with their careers, Roberts said.

For ULV students, the pledge means more than signing a pledge card.

"Having the advantage of having a college degree, I have a social responsibility when I do pick a career or job," said ULV senior Kristine Werthwein.

"It's something that will not only benefit myself but also humanity, because my decisions will affect other people," she said.

Roughly 20 students signed the pledge at the peace fair.

Interested students can contact Roberts at extension 4320.