Pictured above is Jess Li ’24 participating in the protest.
Nearly 75,000 people packed the streets of New York City for the March to End Fossil Fuels on September 17. The four-hour-long march called for the Biden Administration to take immediate action against fossil fuels and featured representatives from Indigenous nations, youth climate activist groups, and speakers among which included United States of America Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Amidst the protesters marched a cohort of 25 Andover students, brandishing signs and leading chants over the course of the demonstration.
Andover’s participation in the March to End Fossil Fuels was introduced by Sebastian Lemberger ’25, a member of the Phillips Academy Sustainability Coalition (PASC), who heard about the protest earlier in the summer. He collaborated with 350 Mass, a Massachusetts-based grassroots organization focused on climate justice, to arrange transportation from Andover to New York City.
Lemberger emphasized that the trip was a chance for students to engage with climate issues beyond Andover. He pointed out how the scope of the march contrasted with the smaller reach of the PASC.
“The main thing that I hope students will gain from this is having an opportunity to get in touch with the greater climate movement outside of Andover. One thing about the PASC is that it’s very self-contained: it’s limited to only Andover. The environmental movement [outside of Andover] is extremely expansive: [there are] 27,000 environmental groups in the United States. I hope that if people get anything out of this trip, they realize that the environmental movement is really, really huge. And there are a lot of people fighting for climate change,” said Lemberger.
Ella Kowal ’25, another organizer for the march, echoed Lemberger’s sentiments about the march’s effect on expanding students’ perception of the climate movement outside Andover. Kowal highlighted how speakers at the rally offered new viewpoints on the environment issue that students rarely encounter on campus.
“A lot of [PASC’s] events are very centralized to the Andover community. What was very different about this [march] was that it gave us the opportunity to interact with other students like us who are really passionate about the fight against climate change… I think what was one of the most impactful things that I saw was that they had leaders of seven prominent Indigenous tribes speak at the rally. I feel that that’s something that we don’t get enough exposure to at Andover: hearing the Indigenous perspective on the fight against climate change. I found that to be really special, and something that you really can’t get anywhere else besides a march of this scale,” said Kowal.
Many students who participated in the march were surprised by the sheer amount of people marching alongside them. Russell Robinson ’25 noted the excitement and enthusiasm of everyone present, and how the march’s positive atmosphere contributed to the experience.
“This was the biggest march I’ve ever participated in. I did not expect this many people would be here. For a lot of the PASC’s [events], it’s sort of hard to feel connected or feel a sense of hope, because it’s pretty small, or there’s only 20 other kids around you. Often it’s just like, ‘Oh, wow, well, is it just us out here?’ But when we got to the march, 70,000 to 75,000 people were there. Everyone was chanting, and it was a really good time…because the energy was high, some of us were dancing at points, [and] it was just really nice energy to be there,” said Robinson.
Luke Christodoulou ’24, who also participated in the march, spoke to the inspirational qualities of protesting alongside thousands of like-minded people. He talked about how the march left a lasting impact on him.
“To my knowledge, I don’t think the PASC has participated in an event quite of this scale in person [before]. Traveling to New York and meeting with all the Climate Leaders from Massachusetts and other youth climate activists from all over the United States in this city, filled with so many people…there was nothing really quite like it. I personally have not seen such a large gathering of people all united for one cause before like that and that was really motivational. That’s something I’ll take with me going forward,” said Christodoulou.
Eric Denby, Instructor in History and Social Science, expressed his confidence in the students who participated in the march. He cited historical instances of systemic change, underscoring the effect of uniting committed students under a shared goal.
“Power. Power in participation. Anything that’s ever changed in the United States has been largely on the backs of youth and youth in numbers, from the civil rights movement to the gay and lesbian movements… History has shown time and time again that it takes time to make change, but it’s got to be consistent pressure from a mass group of people. I think that this group specifically, from Phillips Academy, seems to be extremely dedicated to this issue. As long as people don’t put the brakes on their activism and continually show up to these events, then I think things will change,” said Denby.
