Earlham College
EN-3: Student Life

The Earlham ReInvestment campaign focuses on encouraging the College's administration to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in clean energy. This group is very active on campus. The Earlham bicycle co-op is a community space for the sharing of bike mechanic skills, a place for students to learn to fix their own bikes for free, and an organizing hub for bicycle activism in Richmond. The Bike Co-op hosts monthly Critical Mass bike rides through the city to promote biking as transportation, as well as hosting bike-friendly events and rides throughout the year. Earlham's student run, consensus based coffee shop- Rose City is a great place to witness sustainability business design at work. The coffee shop offers only fair trade coffees and teas, organic milk and soy milk products, and eco-friendly beverage containers.

The College has operated a student farm, Miller Farm, for 40 years. Miller Farm has recently gone through a reorganization and this year is open at a new location. The Farm is mostly student run with faculty input and guidance. Students regularly participate in farm days and have begun selling produce to Earlham's dining services provider, Metz Culinary Management. The Miller Farm steering committee is also in the process of getting a curriculum approved that is focused on the farm that will lead to either a designation or minor in Sustainable Agriculture.

Earlham has a student-run coffee cooperative. Their Mission Statement is "to be an environmentally and socially responsible coffee nonprofit co-op, able to provide coffee and pastries to the students, faculty and staff of Earlham College, as well as the wider community. To be a space to display Earlham community artwork, available for all of the community, year round, to display artwork and other expressions of self. To be an inclusive intellectual space on campus, to encourage students and faculty of Earlham College to mingle in a comfortable environment for both parties. To be a meeting place for groups involved in student activism of all kinds, to empower students in creating change in Earlham, the Richmond community, and the World. To be an entirely student run, non-hierarchical, diverse, consensus based, and sustainable program on Earlham campus."

Earlham's office of events seeks to bring speakers for both the endowed artist and lecture series and convocation lectures that have a sustainable message. Notable speakers have included Majora Carter and Michael Pollan. Furthermore, the Sustainability Office Film and Speaker series (funded in part by the Mellon Foundation) is highly attended by students. Each year, speakers and films are brought to campus around a particular environmental theme. The 2012-13 theme was Food, Farming, and Justice and included Joel Salatin, and films like The Garden and King Corn.

As part of the SEED Grant program, the Sustainability Office has helped fund several art installations on campus as well as artist talks. The Sustainability Office also worked with the Events Office to co-sponsor several sustainability musical and poetry performances which have been well-received by the campus community.

Started in 1971 by a small group of faculty members dedicated to the value of experiential education, the Wilderness Program at Earlham College has grown to become one of the most unique and comprehensive programs of its kind in the country. Through our outdoor trips and courses like rock climbing, backpacking, and kayaking, students have the opportunity to learn new skills, gain a deeper appreciation of our wilderness areas, and gain self-confidence and interpersonal skills. Through our on-campus academic courses and off-campus semester in environmental studies, students engage in intensive, interdisciplinary inquiry leading to a minor in Outdoor Education or Environmental Studies. And finally, through a wide variety of leadership opportunities, students have the opportunity to discover the teacher and leader within by teaching skill courses and leading outdoor trips. As one of the oldest and most respected outdoor education programs in the country, the Wilderness Program has a national reputation for training outstanding outdoor leaders. Through a wide variety of opportunities, student instructors gain invaluable teaching experience and the transferable skills of leadership and group facilitation. Co-leading the 24-day August Wilderness expedition is frequently cited as the highlight of many students' undergraduate outdoor careers. Many work for such organizations as Outward Bound, the National Park Service, the National Outdoor Leadership School, and other environmental and outdoor programs.

Earlham is currently in the process of developing a Sustainability Living and Learning Community for first year students. It is planned for kickoff in the fall of 2016.

The Environmental Theme House is a student governed living space in which students with shared interests in environmentalism live and learn together. The Co-op Hall is a second student governed living space that has a focus on sustainability.

The Sustainability Office employs 10-15 students per semester in the Student Sustainability Corps. Each student applies to a specific project area and has significant ownership over their projects and tasks. The Student Sustainability Corps intentionally welcomes students of all experiences and serves as a leadership and capacity building body for sustainability initiatives on campus.

The Energy Wars is a student-run residence hall energy saving competition held annually at Earlham. Halls and houses compete to conserve energy against their own baselines over three weeks.