Lafayette College
EN-2: Student Orientation

Lafayette strives to incorporate sustainability into the Orientation Program. Each year before Orientation begins, all Orientation Leaders and RAs go through a sustainability training which teaches them important aspects of creating a sustainable planet, which includes important terminology in understanding sustainability in general and as a member of the Lafayette Community. They also visit the a local community garden, LaFarm or another local farm, to promote engagement with their first-year or upperclassmen students. First year students participated in several activities as part of the ongoing orientation activities. Some years the program included a move-in pop up thrift store, "zero waste" Family picnic, providing food from LaFarm, to help students understand the Food Loop that they are part of. Every year there is also Green Move -In which helps incoming students dispose of their moving material in a sustainable fashion, such as their cardboard or styrofoam items. Students were also given a sustainability welcome gift, in some cases a reusable water bottle to use at our water bottle refill stations, to promote ongoing sustainability efforts around campus, or in others a reusable utensil kit to use with the Reusable Clamshell Program. All first-years are also given a bookmark with information about how to live sustainably on campus. These activities are supported by the first year experience staff and student mentors.