Former Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada spoke on climate action on Tuesday, April 1, in McShane Great Hall. The event was organized by the Campus Activities Board’s (CAB) Live! Committee. This was the first speaker event in Fordham University’s revived American Age lecture series.

Dean of Students at Rose Hill Christopher Rodgers reached out to CAB President Adeyinka Maddy, FCRH ’25, and Vice President Jaclyn Wickersham, FCRH ’25, about restarting Fordham’s American Age Lecture Series. They passed this initiative on to CAB’s Live! Committee, which books speakers and stand-up comedians throughout the academic year. Members Megan Blaustein, GSB ’25, Keagan Ostop, FCRH ’25 and Sara Plomondon, FCRH ’25, say that relaunching Fordham’s American Age lecture series aligns with CAB’s mission to provide educational programming to students.

Alvarado Quesada felt it was important to talk to students and encourage their continued commitment to making a change in the world. 

“I do believe [talking] to young people in the current state of affairs is relevant,” said Alvarado Quesada. “The youth is a driving force of good change everywhere. But sometimes the feelings of anxiety and sadness can take over, so I think it’s good to remind everybody that it’s possible to make a meaningful contribution.”

He spoke about his work as president of Costa Rica to push the country to use 99% clean electricity and partner with other countries to expand protected natural areas. 

Jade Petalcorin, GSB ’25, who studies accounting with a concentration in sustainability reporting, attended the event. She commented on CAB’s ability to host such a notable speaker.

“I think it’s really impressive that we could get a former president of such a significant country, especially in the sustainability sphere here,” said Petalcorin. “It’s also just good to hear different perspectives about political issues, specifically ones that affect the entire planet. I have an interest in sustainability so I loved to hear his views on everything.”

Alvarado Quesada also fielded questions from students during the Q&A portion of his presentation. 

Petalcorin asked him about Costa Rica’s informal economy structure and how their climate change mitigation efforts might be used as a model for other countries with informal economies. 

“As a business major, I think about the economy a bit too much and informal economy has always been something very interesting to me, especially as the United States is such a formal economy,” said Petalcorin. “I think it’s important to hear because he did mention that no small act is an effort wasted. When it comes to informal economies like that, it makes me think, how do you target individuals to want to care about the planet?”

Alvarado Quesada said he hopes students can walk away from his presentation with just one new insight or perspective. 

“If by coming here, they either take an idea or an example or remember an element that provides hope or an analogy that they find useful and incorporate in their own language or even if they say, I don’t agree at all, I think that is good,” said Alvarado Quesada.

Alvarado Quesada says his goal in speaking with Fordham students was to build community and offer new insights. Alvarado Quesada is also a Tufts University professor, where he teaches courses about leadership and diplomacy to graduate students and works on issues related to climate change and migration as a fellow at the university. 

Currently, CAB is looking to host more speakers for the restarted American Age lecture series. They plan to host at least one speaker per semester to continue CAB’s mission of engaging students with free events. 

“At the end of the day, our goal is just to provide events on campus for students free of cost so they can either go out and try new things, meet new people or learn,” said Ostop. “The nice thing about CAB is everything is free and anyone can go.”