RSO - MASSPIRG

MASSPIRG is a statewide, student directed and student funded nonprofit working to win concrete victories on social issues. We work on a range of topics, from alleviating poverty to increasing civic engagement to educating students about credit debt. Recently we helped the Open and Affordable Textbooks program continue to save UMass Amherst students costs for course materials. In the fall, our team made over 50,000 peer-to-peer contacts to help students register to vote or turnout to the ballot to make their voices heard.

The thing that makes us so effective is that students here at UMass voted to fund MASSPIRG through an $11 per student, per semester waivable fee. We pool these resources statewide to hire professional staff like lawyers, advocates, and organizers. We work together to run local and statewide campaigns, and they fight on behalf of the students full-time where key decisions are being made in Boston and in Washington DC.

This semester, we are working to power UMass Amherst and Massachusetts with 100% clean renewable energy. We want to pass the 100% Renewable Energy Bill this legislative session in Boston. We are also working to make textbooks cheaper for students, help alleviate hunger and homelessness in the community, promote civic engagement, and save the bees.