Lafayette College
EN-3: Student Life

Society of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (SEES)- SEES, advised by Arthur Kney, is an organization with three main goals. First, S.E.E.S. provides a learning experience for interested students in the related fields of environmental science and engineering. Second, S.E.E.S. conducts research to help solve current environmental science and engineering problems. Third, S.E.E.S. seeks to promote environmental sustainability through community outreach and partnerships.
Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP)- LEAP, advised by Katalin Fabian, is Lafayette College’s student environmental advocacy group. They are dedicated to making Lafayette a more sustainable institution and decreasing its ecological footprint. They are composed of students from all class years and all majors, and take advantage of our variety of perspectives to address a multitude of environmental concerns at Lafayette.
The Lafayette Food and Farm Cooperative (LAFFCO) is a student organization that works to increase involvement and knowledge of our food and agricultural system. It also serves as the student branch of LaFarm.
LEAP (Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection) club promotes environmental initiatives and hosts sustainability related events on campus. LEAP organizes events like community clean ups and recycled paper making to foster community for passionate environmental students.
TBTT (Take Back the Tap) is a club devoted to banning single use plastics on campus. TBTT promotes reusable water bottle use and water refill stations. In 2018, they built several plastic cup pyramids displaying how many plastic cups are used everyday in certain dining halls.
More information: https://sustainability.lafayette.edu/aboutus/student-organizations/

LaFarm, run by Lisa Miskelly, is one of several sustainability initiatives at Lafayette. LaFarm Community Garden & Working Farm is a site for teaching, research, outreach, growing healthy food and building community. Our daily work and our long term goals aim to build an understanding of the critical role of food and farming in environmental stewardship.
More information: https://garden.lafayette.edu/

In 2018, Lafayette hosted Michael Mann as the Jones Lecture Earth Month Speaker. Mann presented to over 300 students in attendance on the impacts of climate change and the importance of civic action.

Also in 2018, Lafayette hosted the LVAIC Campus Sustainability Conference featuring workshops, presentations, and poster sessions focused on sustainability. https://calendar.lafayette.edu/node/28096

"How We See" (April 2017) is an installation art project conceived and created by six Lafayette College art and science students, led by Visiting Artist Julia Buntaine. Located in the Williams Visual Arts Center Ahart Plaza, this installation explores the phenomenon and mechanisms of sight through an exploratory environment. The structure of the installation takes direct inspiration from the anatomy and biology of the visual system, and highlights visual experiences such as color perception, optical illusions, and the pairing of meaning to content in a visual scene. More information: https://calendar.lafayette.edu/node/23557

Lafayette hosted world-famous environmental artist, Christo, the 2018 Grossman Visiting Artist. Christo gave a talk about his work with his late wife, Jeanne Claude. For more information about their works, please see http://christojeanneclaude.net/. More information about the event: https://calendar.lafayette.edu/node/31123

In April of 2018, Lafayette hosted "An Inconvenient Sequel" film screening. More information here: https://calendar.lafayette.edu/node/31954

The Lafayette Outdoors Society (LOSt) is an organization that introduces students to the great outdoor recreation activities that the Easton area has to offer. Events include hiking/Camping, rock climbing, kayaking, cycling and running. LOSt follows Leave No Trace principles. The faculty advisor for LOSt is Cliff Reiter.

The TREEHouse special interest living group is located on in an off campus house that is still college-owned. The purpose of the living group is to establish a low-impact, environmentally-conscious culture. The members of the TREEhouse all live together, trying to be models of recycling, efficiency, and conservation – employing human ingenuity, innovativeness and resourcefulness to establish a virtually waste-less and environmentally friendly community. The members of the group help to develop a campus-wide consciousness about preservation of the environment and the group serves as a pilot for new campus-wide environmental and energy policy. The TREEhouse was previously a interest floor located in a residence hall on campus. Three years ago it was disbanded for a year and has been an off campus living leaning community (LLC) for the past three years. Grace Reynolds, in Residence Life, has information regarding all of the LLC's.

Through Lafayette's community garden, LaFarm, students work under Lisa Miskelly, the Farm Manager, to grow food using organic, small scale, sustainable practices and then help in selling that food both to our Dining Halls and at a market for students and staff on campus. This both involves hands on labor and logistical office work. More information: https://garden.lafayette.edu/lafarm-work-opportunities/

EcoReps are also paid student employees through the Office of Sustainability to serve as peer-educators and sustainability ambassadors across campus. More information: https://sustainability.lafayette.edu/aboutus/ecoreps/