Let's Talk Human Rights

By Jared Marsh '20

I started at UD as a Mechanical Engineering major with big dreams of one day founding a renewable energy company, but quickly came to realize that life and UD had different plans for me. I got my start in the Student Government Association’s Sustainability Committee where I assisted with a campus compost project. Shortly after joining the committee, I was encouraged to apply for a job at the Hanley Sustainability Institute (HSI), which I thought was a long shot for me a first-year. After advice and encouragement from friends and family, I applied to HSI and was offered a position with the first incoming cohort of Sustainability Student Leaders; a position I would remain in for three years.

Wanting to expand my knowledge of sustainability and the environment beyond the scope of Dayton, I applied and was accepted into the Honors Program’s Global Flyers: India during the summer of my second year. While in India, I had the privilege to research the impacts of climate change, globalization, and government policy on agriculture and worked with farmers to reduce the negative impacts of burning non-biodegradable waste. It was working with the people on the front lines of the climate crisis where I realized I needed a more hands-on and human connection to my work. 

When I resumed classes in the fall of my third year, I spent many late nights wondering what I was doing with my life and whether I should change majors, drop out of school and start working, or maybe even become a hermit. After countless conversations with my engineering advisor, I was encouraged to talk to Dr. Natalie Hudson who provided a light on a path I could not see at the time in Human Rights Studies. Though my parents were unsure about my decision, I decided to change majors after the first semester of my junior year and immediately felt like I had found my academic home; it only took three years! 

I spent the summer after my third-year working at the Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation (IACT) and discovered new methods for envisioning creative processes that I could apply to my major and work. These skills were critical to my work as a student engagement intern at HRC where I started working in the fall of my fourth year. In this role, I co-led the 2019 climate strike, hosted discussion panels on human rights, consulted with Flyer Enterprises on their sustainability and human rights policies, and supported the students running Human Rights Week. I was most passionate about the Climate Strike, which took place as part of the Global Climate Strike on September 20th, 2019, and showcased what students can accomplish when given trust and leadership opportunities. 

Now in my last semester on campus, my time reaches a culmination as I say goodbye to the HRC’s Moral Courage Project: Power and Poison. Moral Courage is a biannual human rights storytelling project that aims to highlight the voices of individuals who advocate for their community during moments of crisis. This season we “traveled” through Zoom to Appalachia and Michigan to conduct interviews centered around the right to water. As part of the team, I helped conduct interviews and later co-design the project’s website. While the project was upended due to the pandemic, our team still found meaning and passion in the work and in brief moments of laughter during virtual dance sessions and “Zoomed out” moments of wackiness. 

Looking back on my journey, I offer a piece of advice to current students: ultimately it is your journey to walk, but not alone. I challenge you to take a chance on yourself and follow your passions because this is why I think others took a chance on me, because I was willing to take one on myself. As you journey, different paths can be difficult, but know that there will be several hands along the way to lift you up that often come in the shape of a Flyer. I am forever grateful to the many people who supported me on my journey with guidance and advice.

Had my academic and professional paths been linear, I might not have ended up where I am today. I came to UD with a love for the technical and a passion for people and the planet. UD has given me the gift to explore my passions with unwavering support. Most importantly, the journey has shown me what kind of human I want to be. I now head into a full-time position at Action Tank in Cincinnati where I take with me all of the lessons and opportunities I have been gifted. Before I go, I ask that whenever you are questioning your path in life or here at UD, consider not what is the cost if you change, but rather what is the cost if you don’t?

Jared is a Human Rights Studies major who started working at the Human Rights Center in the fall of 2019 where he led the student engagement team. Jared is graduating this December and will be continuing human rights work at Action Tank in Cincinnati