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Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard has rebranded as a chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a national organization that advocates for political action on climate change.

The student group spent years advocating for the University to withdraw investments from the fossil fuel industry, until declaring victory in 2021, when Harvard announced the decision to allow investments in the sector to expire.

The new Sunrise chapter plans to expand its climate justice advocacy beyond Harvard Yard to focus more on the Boston metropolitan area. The group has also already talked to other colleges in Massachusetts about plans to collaborate and will work with graduate students, faculty members, and Greater Boston locals, according to chapter co-founder Jasmine N. Wynn ’27.

“It’s a coalition of people at our school that care about seeing climate justice, not only on our campus, but also in a broader area,” Wynn, who is a member of The Crimson Editorial Board, said. “Especially given that Harvard, by holding a lot of land, can sometimes be a perpetuator of injustice in especially under-resourced Black and brown communities in the area.”

The Harvard chapter will “tap in” to the Sunrise Movement’s current national campaigns, said chapter co-founder Barbara A. Sheehan ’27 — such as the “Make Polluters Pay” campaign, which advocates for legislation requiring fossil fuel companies to help pay for remedies to local pollution.

“Being able to be a Sunrise chapter lends us access to just so many resources,” said Sheehan, a former Crimson Multimedia editor, calling it a “new day” for Harvard’s climate activists. She said she expects the name recognition of the national organization will help recruit students to the chapter.

The activists hope to use their position as Harvard students to make change on a local and national scale, co-founder Lola J. DeAscentiis ’26 said.

“In this current era of rollbacks to the EPA and other climate protections, it’s really important for all of us to do what we can, where we stand, and use any connections that we have to systems of power to try to make change in our own communities, which will then have a ripple effect,” she added.

But regarding on-campus activism, Wynn said the relationship between the administration and student activists is “the worst it’s been in decades.”

“That’s another reason why we’re mostly focusing our attention kind of on the broader Boston area,” Wynn added.

College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo wrote that the University will “remain open to conversations” with students and student organizations in a statement.

“We might not always agree or arrive at the same conclusion, but we will always listen,” he added.

Phoebe G. Barr ’24, a former leader of Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard, said she is optimistic about the future of climate activism at Harvard due to the rebranding.

“One of the things that we worried about was that, in the wake of divestment, the group would basically cease to exist,” Barr said. “I have been really excited about the fact that younger people have been coming into the group and continue to have energy for climate justice organizing.”

—Staff writer Sophia Y. King can be reached at sophia.king@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @sophia_kingg.

—Staff writer Anneliese S. Mattox can be reached at anneliese.mattox@thecrimson.com.