While fossil fuel companies sell polluting energy as “clean” from the halls of our universities to international forums, frontline communities must fight for their voices to be heard.

After years of agitation from the Washington University community for the removal of coal executives from the board of trustees—which culminated in a 16-day occupation conducted by WashU Students Against Peabody in the spring of 2014 and led to seven student arrests at a rally outside of a board of trustees meeting—activists can finally claim some victory. However, Fossil Free WashU will continue to push for full divestment from fossil fuels.

At 10 p.m. Thursday night, the Students Against Peabody group officially ended its sit-in. But students say their stand against Peabody Energy will continue at the board of trustees meeting on May 1. After 16 days of holding their ground underneath the Brookings Archway, the students have decided to move on to other tactics to urge Washington University to cut ties with Peabody Energy.

Students are continuing their sit-in under the Brookings Archway after Chancellor Mark Wrighton rejected their core demand to remove Greg Boyce, CEO of Peabody Energy, from Washington University’s board of trustees Saturday.

Dear Editor, Peabody Energy (formerly Coal) Corporation accumulated a dismal and unforgiving record of polluting the environment and shamelessly forcing the removal of people, especially Native Americans, from their homes.

On April 30, the United Nation’s International Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the best available scientific report on global warming and the likely consequences of continued carbon pollution.

In light of recent behavior by Peabody Energy, we are disappointed to see this corporation continuing to act in its own self-interest, in staunch opposition to the will of the people and at the expense of the public good. We are calling on this university to end its partnership with Peabody Energy. On Feb.

“Washington University in St. Louis is a national leader in sustainability, a core priority that runs through all aspects of our campus community, our operations and our work as a leading research and teaching institution.” These are the words that greet me when I click on “Energy, Environment & Sustainability,” one of the most prominent tabs on the wustl.

This Tuesday, in a class named Energy and Environmental Issues, I had the privilege of listening to a guest lecture by Professor Eric Zencey on a new economic paradigm—ecological economics. The talk was certainly interesting and made me wonder about the limits of traditional economic theory.

On Jan. 24, Washington University released a new pledge in an effort to help students go green (formally called a “pledge for sustainability.”) Designed to encourage students and staff to consider their environmentally harmful decisions and make changes accordingly, the pledge calls for participants to reduce their carbon footprints. We commend this pledge, as we would any effort to promote responsible sustainability and reduce waste.