Education

PETA Pays College Students $500 Per Semester To Advocate For Vegan Lifestyle

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Grace Carr Reporter
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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is offering to pay college students $1,000 per year if they sign up for PETA’s Campus Representative Program and vow to promote the vegan lifestyle at their university.

These vegan ambassadors will be responsible for organizing movie nights about why eating meat is bad, educating others about animal cruelty, and learning and spreading information about common meat practices in the food business. In return, PETA will give them $500 per semester to spread the vegan message.

The PETA application states that campus representatives must organize a campaign to make a positive change for animals, conduct eight outreach actions to inform others about animal cruelty, and document the work they do, as well as stay in touch with their PETA program advisor. The application form says it wants to help students find ways to bring vegan stations to dining halls on their campuses and stop people from buying Sea World tickets.

“It is extremely important to promote veganism to college students because they’re at a pivotal cognitive stage in their lives,” a University of California-Irvine PETA representative told Campus Reform. Because college students’ brains are still developing, they are “more open to learning about the positive effects of veganism on their body and their environment,” the student added.

“A lot of students our age want to be involved in [being vegan], and change the world. It’s such a good way to get involved and start young,” said another representative at the Fashion Institute of Technology, who hosted a campus viewing of “Cowspiracy.” “[Veganism] opens up a whole new world for them.”

The program began in 2013 with four campus representatives and has grown to more than 108 members, according to PETA Director of International Youth Outreach Ryan Huling. He added that they are still seeking more advocates to join the initiative.

PETA has campus representatives at Harvard University, UCLA, Yale, Columbia University, and Texas A&M University, and is hoping to reach other schools like Princeton, Brown, and Dartmouth.

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