Ryan Chartrand
As a long-time activist, Cal Poly English professor Steven Marx has left his footprint on Cal Poly and proved that social protest can be achieved through literature.
In 1995, the state wanted to put a pipeline from the Central Valley to the Central Coast that would run directly through Poly Canyon. Marx took action against this pipeline because both the riparian area and a grove of 60- to 80-year-old oak trees were threatened.
“I knew if I made enough noise, stuff would happen,” Marx said.
The professor responded by taking pictures and collecting maps. He led hikes to promote awareness and show what would be ruined if the plan passed. It was a successful campaign, and the pipeline eventually went through Stenner Canyon instead of Poly Canyon.
Former Cal Poly Provost Paul Zingg, now president of Chico State, was interested in promoting environmental issues and proposed funding for teaching and sharing the information regarding the 10,000 acres of land Cal Poly owns.
Through collaboration with many different departments, Marx published “Cal Poly Land – A Field Guide,” a book that presents photos, maps and information about hiking trails, plant life and organisms located around campus. Marx would even like to update the book since the last edition was published in 2003.
The book is used as a textbook in University Studies (UNIV) 330 (Cal Poly Land: Nature, Technology and Society), which is taught by Matt Ritter and Hunter Francis, and in Marx’s classes: English 380 (Reading and Writing the Landscape) and with his English 145 and 134 classes. It is available at El Corral Bookstore.
Marx is thrilled with how the book has been used and with the information that has been documented.
“It’s satisfying [UNIV 330] did not die. It is continuing without me and has the same idea of using land to study from many different angles,” Marx said.
The UNIV 330 class, which is also listed as AG/HUM 330, analyzes Cal Poly land through environmental, economic, social and political effects of agriculture, resource extraction, and construction technology used on the landscape. Marx has passed on his knowledge through collaborative efforts with other professors at Cal Poly.
Marx has always questioned what was happening around him, even before his time at Cal Poly.
He received his undergraduate degree in humanities from Columbia University and went into the Peace Corps in 1963, but was kicked out when the CIA found that he was questioning authority too much and was becoming “too intellectual.”
“I thought I was doing what I was taught to do,” Marx said.
The story was full of so much controversy that it made the New York Times. After the devastation of being kicked out of the Peace Corps, Marx moved to California to attend Stanford University. Four years later, he returned to the East Coast for a teaching position at Columbia, where he taught from 1967 to 1970.
While teaching at Columbia, Marx took part in one of the largest student protest movements. The Columbia protests erupted in the spring of 1968 after it became known that the university was involved with the institutional system supporting the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War.
There was also concern over an allegedly segregated gymnasium that was to be constructed in a local park. Marx was one of few faculty members participating when they took over occupation of many university and administration buildings until their eventual – and violent – removal by the New York City Police Department. Over 700 protesters were arrested at the sit-in, including Marx.
In 1970, Marx and his wife left the East Coast after the people around him started to become too radical while living on a commune called Total Lost Farm in Vermont. He and his wife felt helpless to stop the war with radical leftist groups, such as “The Weathermen,” developing around them.
He spent the next nine years in British Columbia with his wife. There he worked at a pulp mill, ironically making paper for the New York Times, and living off the land.
Marx went on to finish his Ph.D. in English at Stanford and taught there for four years before accepting a teaching position at Cal Poly in 1988.
His book has had a major impact on campus and is looked at as a model for other campuses. The book promotes insight about sustainability and stewardship on Cal Poly’s land and provides a documented resource to those who wish to learn. Marx’s stance on sustainability and the environment has been strong since his time at Cal Poly, but he wishes more would be done on this campus.
Marx wants to see a more sustainable campus based on Arizona State University’s system.
Many leading universities, including Chico State, have an office of sustainability and some of the presidents of these universities have signed the Presidents Climate Agreement to become carbon neutral. Cal Poly has done neither.
“We need more of a commitment from up top. We could produce more energy, and [we] have a long way to go to become carbon neutral,” Marx said.
If there is enough support, Marx believes a sustainable movement can happen on campus.
“There will have to be a tremendous transformation of behaviors and attitudes. Brilliant people come here. It can happen,” Marx said.