Senior Portrait: Jason Levinn's Role as An Environmental Leader

Name: Jason Levinn, '08
Hometown: Gladstone, N.J.
Major: Business
Minors: Leadership Studies, Environmental Studies
Contribution: Founder of Richmond Environmental Network for Economic Willpower (RENEW)
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What Moves Us?

That was the question Jason Levinn, ’08, submitted for the Richmond Quest his freshman year. He won, but it took him a couple of years before he was able to answer the question as it related to him personally.

For Levinn, the answer turned out to be saving the environment.

The summer before his junior year, he obtained an internship at Morgan Stanley in California. Although he admits that he didn’t really enjoy the job, he credits the internship with helping him get some direction.

That – and seeing a little documentary that came out that summer titled An Inconvenient Truth.

“I realized that I didn’t know what I was passionate about,” he said. “I was just doing a job. But it was good to find out what I didn’t want to do.”

And, he says, the film was a wake-up call.

“I was like I want to go buy a hybrid right now!” he said. “I thought how do I not know about this? But I also thought there are a lot of opportunities embedded in this problem.”

The New Jersey native returned to campus that fall ready to capitalize on some of those opportunities – and wondering if there were people in Virginia and at the University of Richmond who cared about the environment as much as he did.

It wasn’t long before Levinn had his answer.

Doing Something About the Problem: The RENEW Campaign

Each Monday night at 8:30, a group of concerned students gather in a room on the third floor of Tyler Haynes Commons to discuss what they can do to help save the environment. They are there because of Levinn.

After mulling over what he could do to help, Levinn had an idea: Why not start a group on campus that could meet, raise awareness about the environment and discuss issues related to the environment?

He spent the fall semester of his junior year making it happen.

The end result of his efforts is the Richmond Environmental Network for Economic Willpower or RENEW, a nonprofit group aimed to help make the University of Richmond more environmentally friendly.

But getting the group started wasn’t easy. It took time, imagination and dedication.  
                     
“You can’t just be an activist and be sentimental about things. You have to be practical about things too and sell your ideas. You have to be business-like even if you’re not making a profit.”
                                                                                            -Jason Levinn, '08 

He had to fill out a group application, create by-laws, set up a listserv and go before a board comprised of administrators, faculty and students to get it approved.

He did, and the group’s first official meeting was in January of 2007. Levinn still remembers what he told the six or seven people who came.

“I said we’re here to talk about important environmental problems, find solutions and get the word out,” Levinn recalled.

Now a little over a year old, RENEW isn’t new anymore.

Although the group started as a discussion group, it has since morphed into more of a grassroots activism group. And it is slowly growing in numbers. Now, 16 or 17 people come each week. They talk about upcoming events they have scheduled, how to get more people involved and current issues that affect the environment. Their listserv is growing as well – 180 people are on the list now.

Since the group started, Levinn says they have worked with various groups on campus to help the environment, sponsored a movie showing of An Inconvenient Truth to raise awareness and, after collecting signatures for a petition, encouraged University President Ed Ayers to sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge to make the University of Richmond “climate neutral.” Over 1,000 people signed the petition.

At the end of environmental week in November, they held a press conference in front of Gottwald Science Center for President Ayers to announce his decision.

“I was a little nervous because I didn’t know what he was going to say or what his decision would be,” Levinn said.

“But he agreed to sign it and spoke about what we wanted to do as a university to help the environment. I like to think we had a little something to do with his decision,” Levinn said with a grin.

A Learning Experience

Although Levinn is no longer in charge of the group and has handed the reigns over to new leaders who are mostly freshmen and sophomores, he is pleased with what they have been able to accomplish and confident that they will continue to make an impact on campus.

“I think RENEW is going to continue to do good stuff, and that’s exciting for me,” said Levinn, who makes it a point to ride his bike across campus instead of drive. “I have a lot of faith in these people because they’re all really passionate about the issues.”

He has also learned a thing or two about leadership in the process and during his time at the University of Richmond.

“Taking a class like Group Dynamics, you realize that people are incentivized to act certain ways in certain situations,” he said. “Knowing that has helped me make certain decisions about the group.”

He learned something else as well.

“You can’t just be an activist and be sentimental about things. You have to be practical about things too and sell your ideas. You have to be business-like even if you’re not making a profit.”

Levinn, who says leadership studies was originally going to be his second major until he discovered his passion for the environment, will graduate in May with a major in business and a double minor in leadership studies and environmental studies.

He’s not sure what he will do after graduation yet. He was recently accepted into the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, a graduate program at Duke University and is waiting to hear back from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He is also considering taking a job with Environment America, a national, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization.

Levinn is pleased with what he has been able to do during his time at UR and with the direction his life is headed. And he has advice for those who are still trying to figure out what they want to do.

“If you see opportunities that you’re passionate about, you should never let them fly by,” he said. “More often than not, they will turn into something good for you.”