Show me an advocate

When Hannah Hoby ’22 moved into UD’s student neighborhood last year, she was disappointed to find that there were no recycling bins in any of the houses. 

Though the neighborhood had recycling dumpsters outside, there was no easy way to transport recyclables to them without using garbage bags, which can't be recycled. This caused many recyclable products to be wasted and took away  the incentive for  students to recycle. 

“I couldn't believe that there weren’t any bins and that so much was going to waste,” said Hoby, SGA’s current vice president.

Hoby, then a senator for the Student Government Association, wanted to change that. Partnering with fellow senator Andrew Moyer ’22, SGA president, the two started an advocacy project to  place recycling bins inside residences in the student neighborhood. 

Along with its officers, SGA has a 16-member senate composed of four representatives from each class year. Besides voting on bills and attending meetings, the main responsibility of these students is their advocacy projects, through which they give back to the students that elected them.

According to Hoby, “each class rep is expected to brainstorm, develop and implement an initiative on campus that comes from a student's need, want or concern.”

Once projects are determined by the advocacy committee, the SGA vice president, currently Hoby, connects with a member of UD staff that works in a related area to help organize the project, set it in motion and make it a reality.

In the case of the recycling bins, the plan was simple: get bins inside houses. Partnering with facilities management, SGA received a grant to purchase 500 in-house recycling bins for the student neighborhood. Bins were placed in over half of the houses in the student neighborhood since the program began, making it an incredibly successful initiative, far exceeding Hoby and Moyer’s expectations. 

“It’s just as simple as that,” Hoby said. “It’s taking an idea as simple as buying a recycling bin, getting a little funding and a little help from the University, and then seeing it be a huge success.”

Other SGA senators are also currently working on other advocacy projects for the current school year, including fixing potholes on streets around campus, planting a garden for students to get fresh produce, and providing airport transportation for students during breaks.

Hoby hopes to make existing SGA projects more visible to the community and encourage students to direct their concerns and requests to the committee so more work can be done to improve student life on campus. 

“When I walk into my friends’ houses and see [a recycling bin] in their house, it’s nice.”

“You actually get to see tangible results in the neighborhood or community,” she said. “When I walk into my friends’ houses and see [a recycling bin] in their house, it’s nice.”

Advocacy initiatives will continue to be a priority for SGA.

“It's our responsibility to respond when students are complaining, and evaluate if every concern, want, and need they have is valid,” Hoby said. “Advocacy projects help improve the little things in students’ lives,” she said, “making it incredibly rewarding.” 

Photos by Meredith Robinson '23.