Washington and Lee University
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

The University's update Climate Action Plan includes these two targets under the section on Education and Engagement:
1. Increased use of “campus as a lab” in classes studying a wide variety of issues related to environmental topics, including policy, philosophy, accounting, marketing, and engineering.
2. Increased curricular offerings in sustainability, possibly to include an Introduction to Sustainability course.

STARS inventories offer a consistent framework within which to track progress in these areas.

The University's update Climate Action Plan includes these four targets under the section On Education and Engagement:
1. Increased visibility of sustainability efforts, including climate action, on the University web site, including a presence on the main page.
2. Increased signage and education about campus recycling and composting, ranging from explicit waste disposal instructions on campus receptacles to resources for understanding the campus waste stream “big picture.”
3. On-site signage providing information about the solar arrays, LEED-certified buildings, intentional rain gardens and other designed environmental features on campus.
4. Workshops and custom training courses, possibly for internal certification, on department specific environmental information. For example, a series on green cleaning offered to custodial staff, sustainable office and event management practices for administrative assistant staff, sustainable landscaping for grounds staff, etc.

Written in our 2019 Climate Action Plan:

By 2029, reduce emissions from electricity use by 100%, natural gas and campus fleet by 10%, and landfill waste and paper by 20%.

https://www.wlu.edu/the-w-l-story/leadership/office-of-the-president/issues-and-initiatives/citizenship/sustainability-initiatives/climate-action-plan/

The University's Strategic Plan includes the the directive:
"Increase the racial, socioeconomic, and international diversity of our students, faculty, and staff." The plan goes on to list the following initiatives to support the achievement of this goal:
1. Need-Blind Undergraduate Admissions- Admit the strongest applicants, regardless of family financial circumstances
2. "Full W&L Experience" for every W&L student - Eliminate financial barriers to curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular participation;
Offer high-quality residential, dining, and social options for all students
3. National Talent Outreach- Communicate W&L's values and opportunities to prospective students, faculty, and staff; Recruit deep and diverse applicant pools for undergraduate and law school admission; Recruit deep and diverse applicant pools for faculty and staff positions; Involve athletics and the arts in recruiting excellent students from all backgrounds to W&L
4. Law School Scholarships- Develop a signature program to attract the best law students to W&L
5. Community Building and Support- Deepen student connections to W&L through the Office of Inclusion and Engagement; Expand athletic and recreational opportunities: varsity softball, outing club, club sports; Foster student well-being with Health and Counseling resources; Enhance student outcomes with Career and Professional Development resources; Retain faculty and staff with opportunities for personal and professional development

The University's Strategic Plan specifically endorses Environmental Stewardship among key initiatives and cites the implementation of the Climate Action Plan as a priority, and in so doing endorses the content of that plan which includes the following :
"The reality of global climate change presents the University with the enormous challenge, responsibility, and opportunity to take real and direct action, demonstrate meaningful and principled leadership, and build the foundation of future solutions through the thoughtful education of our students. Through our climate action planning, we fully inhabit our institutional mission, and our motto, non-incautus futuri."

As a framework for considering campus sustainability, the Office of Sustainability has chosen to connect to foundational concepts and reference the basic dictionary definition of "Sustainable - capable of being maintained at length without interruption or weakening." This is applied to environmental impacts but also the crucial points where those impacts intersect with social and economic systems."

The University's internal commitment are detailed in our Strategic Plan and Climate Action Plan, as detailed above.
W&L is also a signatory on the President's Climate Commitment and The Taillores Declaration in addition to being a steering committee member of Lexington City's Health Green Neighborhoods Initiative.

The categorization of sustainability's inclusion in the university's highest guiding document as a "major them" is based not just on the inclusion of environmental stewardship among the initiatives but also on the substantial focus on diversity and equity in the document.