MISSION STATEMENT

The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) aims to empower undergraduate students, and all members of the Hunter community, to actively participate in the effort to advance sustainability on campus. Through a Grant Making Committee with a student majority, TGIF aims to fund innovative projects that reduce Hunter College’s negative environmental impact, create environmental education opportunities, and/or empower students to implement solutions to environmental problems. Through these projects, TGIF aims to catalyze a shift in the culture at Hunter College, and foster a new and heightened sense of environmental awareness, responsibility, and capacity for action.

BACKGROUND

TGIF was established by student referendum during undergraduate student government elections in April 2010. TGIF at Hunter is based on a successful model for a recurring environmental project fund that has been established on campuses across the county. The referendum at Hunter reallocated approximately $43,000 annually from the Student Activity Fee – $2.00 per full-time student per semester and $0.80 per part-time student per semester – toward TGIF, in order to advance sustainability on campus. During student government elections, an overwhelming majority, 93.8% of students voted in favor of the referendum, establishing TGIF at Hunter College, effective Fall 2010. The initial bylaws for TGIF were drafted by Hunter Solar Project, the student organization that proposed the referendum, along with input from various stakeholders in the Hunter community.