Eleven months after John McKendy’s death, memories of the late professor still have a strong presence at St. Thomas University.
He was both an educator and a peace activist, and now McKendy’s students are taking up one of his many causes in memoriam: banning the sale of disposable water bottles on campus.
“In his last class he talked about how it would be great if students took on this initiative, and took on bottled water on campus,” said Ella Henry, a student of McKendy’s. “It was something he’d do pretty regularly.”
The Coalition for Bottled-Water Free Campuses in Fredericton began as a group of students looking to honour their professor, but soon grew to include members from across the city.
“It sort of snowballed from there,” said Henry. “There were all sorts of groups on campus and in the community who also wanted to work on similar issues.”
Henry says freshmen will find reusable water bottles in their welcome week kits. Inside the bottles will be a factsheet about bottled water and tap water – which the group touts as “a healthier, cheaper alternative to bottled water”.
The University of Winnipeg banned the sale disposable water bottles earlier in March, making it the first campus in Canada to do so.
Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland recently followed that lead and banned bottled water at university sponsored events.
Henry says McKendy’s memory motivates the group to keep lobbying all campuses in Frederiction.
“We think of him and what he was really about. He loved teaching and he loved passing on information … and getting people excited about things,” she said. “So that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Henry says the group has yet to contact Aramark, Tim Hortons, or any other vending companies on STU’s campus.
