Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 73.47
Liaison Ian McKeown
Submission Date March 30, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Loyola Marymount University
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Ian McKeown
Sustainability Officer
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have one or more active student groups focused on sustainability?:
Yes

A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:

ECO Students (Environmentally Conscious and Organized Students) is a student-governed group that educates the student population on environmental issues affecting the world and what can be done. Students have participated in small initiatives, like promoting refillable water bottles, or large campaigns like working to eliminate coal power plants with the Sierra Club.

USGBC Students is a student-governed group that seeks to educate the LMU community in the field of green building design. The student group hosts a variety of campus wide programs, like the LMU Lights Out building energy competition so that students may develop an understanding and appreciation for the green buildings already established on campus.

Bike LMU focuses on sustainable transportation and increasing bike presence on campus. Bike LMU hosts bike rides, education events, and awarness campaigns related to environmentalism and biking in general.

Environmental Responsibility ASLMU - ASLMU (Student Government Green Representatives). These sustainability representatives of student government focus on sustainability initiatives on campus, working with administrators, working with the sustainability office, hosting sustainability events, and raising campus awareness.

Espérer - An all-female service organization on campus that focuses on bettering the community through preserving justice and growth of individuals. They also promote knowledge of sustainable practices in local communities in hopes to create a "freer, greener world".

The Loyola Marymount University Surf Club strives to foster students’ interest both in surfing, ocean science, and environmental issues that impact the oceans.

Engineers Without Borders – LMU supports community-driven development programs worldwide through the design and implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while fostering responsible leadership.


The website URL where information about the student groups is available (optional):
Does the institution have gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
Yes

A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:

The LIONS Garden was created on the LMU campus to raise awareness and participation of the student population in agricultural sustainability. The garden features raised beds that allow students the most diverse education in urban farming techniques. Students learn about soil fertility, composting, and the best practices for organic gardening in urban environments. The purpose is to reacquaint new generations with knowledge of how to plan and implement the garden to be both agriculturally beneficial and sustainable. The garden allows LMU to put words into action, and environmental innovations are brought to life to showcase their viability. The garden features such innovations as rainwater harvesting, storm water management through a bioswale, on-site composting, a hydroponic tower garden, and 97% recycled plastic tables and benches. The LIONS Garden also features a peace pole that was installed to create a sacred space for reflection based on a deep respect for inter-faith and inter-cultural perspectives.


The website URL where information about the gardens, farms or agriculture projects is available (optional):
Does the institution have student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes (e.g. cafés through which students gain sustainable business skills)?:
Yes

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:

The Lion's Den is a student-run coffee shop with a friendly, energetic staff. They serve only 100% Fair Trade, Shade Grown, Organic Coffees. They also serve pastries and fair trade chocolate. Spring 2017 the Lion's Den gave away free reusable coffee mugs and a stamp card to earn free coffee with the mug to encourage students to use reusable mugs.

ASLMU (Student Government) Farmer's Market. Student government runs a farmers market every third Thursday, They sell sustaianability related items, have educational booths, and local vendors come to sell sustainable local produce and food.

Campus Garden is a space maintained by students. It is for students to plant and harvest herbs, fruits, and vegetables. They make sure the plants in the garden require minimal water, plant trees to help sequester carbon, and have installed features to trap and filter water run off.


The website URL where information about the student-run enterprises is available (optional):
Does the institution have sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:

The Student Investment Fund at LMU's College of Business Administration was designed to provide students with a valuable hands-on experience gained through practical knowledge in researching, choosing, investing, monitoring and measuring the performance of stocks.
Our mission is to offer students the opportunity to apply the theories they learn in class which will give them the needed skills to manage funds through investment and security analysis. As this type of knowledge and understanding is usually obtained through on-the-job training, participating students are rewarded by being immediately prepared to pursue financial careers following graduation.

The recently launched Responsible Investing Advisory Committee (RIAC) at LMU has a student representative, who is appointed to a two-year term. This student is responsible for reporting the opinions and perceptions of LMU undergraduates to the Committee. Students are also able to present environmental, social, or governance (ESG) financial recommendations to the RIAC. This allows students to directly engage in the RI process.


The website URL where information about the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives is available (optional):
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Does the institution have conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability:

September 7th, 2016
The Fourth Phase Behind the scenes event
Green LMU (LMU Sustainability Office) and the LMU Ski & Snowboard club presented a world exclusive event ahead of the world premier of world famous snowboarder Travis Rice’s new groundbreaking film The Fourth Phase. Following the renowned action sports films Thats It Thats All and The Art of Flight, Travis and his team have spent four years developing the most progressive snowboarding action ever captured on film. Innovatively filmed within nature’s most stunning natural stages, the film weaves the action into a cerebral story describing how the hydrological cycle fuels this extreme sport and ultimately global climate. We hosted the Director of Photography Greg Wheeler and Lead Editor Justin Smith as they share exclusive behind the scenes imagery and stories, followed by a question and answer session.

September 10th, 2016
Community Open House/Picnic with community relations.
100 plus attendees partnered with Community Relations to interact with local Westchester community and showcase/educate in an interactive station format. 6 stations provided science, environmental facts, and information on the programs LMU has to reduce our environmental carbon footprint. Partnered with Recycling who had educational station as well. Recycling/Green LMU only campus groups invited by community relations to represent the university.

November 1st, 2016 and all year ongoing
Partnered with student government for numerous outreach events during the year ongoing. An example is partnering with ASLMU to provide a think global act local event. There was a table interacted with students on the influence of climate change on international security and conflict. ASLMU provided food and interactive display while Green LMU contribute with knowledge/displays and interacted with student body.

November 30th, 2016
Green Chemistry Event
LMU chemistry department joined to help promote, secure other partners including (ECO Students, The Bay Foundation, CURes, City of Los Angeles, & more!), vendors, to celebrate the Chemistry Department signing the Green Chemistry Commitment, which formalizes the department’s commitment to moving chemists toward safer, non-toxic, renewable chemistry and materials. Green LMU participated in the sustainability expo.

Green office program lectures for students/staff/faculty
We have partnered with The City of Los Angeles Green Business Program and along with a student worker have been visiting offices, data mining, and setting up a system of outreach to campus offices to certify them as sustainable businesses with recognition from thecity of LA and the mayor. This will help spread our work as a sustainable campus by outreach with individual offices. As part of this a student and the Sustainability Officer from Green LMU provide office trainings and talks. Recently partnered with Professor Jeremy Pal, and the controller's office to make a presentation on sustainability/climatechange. Facilities Management has been certified as a Green Office.

Water week every year
In a partnership with ASLMU (student government) Green LMU will work with multiple campus partners to launch a week of events March 20th-24th to bring campus awareness to water use issues, water conservation, and environmentalism surrounding water. As part of this will partners with ASLMU to present the opportunity to students to go paddleboarding with the PROSUP shop a Green LMU partner in Marina Del Ray. Students will gain access to enjoy the ocean and learn about the direct impact our campus location and we have on our ecosystem through direct interaction with the environment.

Firewire Lecture
As part of water week Green LMU (LMU Sustainability) welcomes Mark Price, CEO of Firewire, for a presentation on “Sustainability and the Surfboard Industry – a case study”. Firewire, co-owned by professional surfer Kelly Slater, is a sustainability-minded surfboard company dedicated to building high performance surfboards and accessories through innovative design, materials and construction methods. Come join us for this discussion on the unique, systemic factors that are hindering the faster adoption of more sustainable materials in surfboard production, and what needs to change to accelerate that process. This amazing event will provide context of what it is like to support social justice, lower environmental impact of a company, and do this to ensure a profit.

Energy Contest
In conjunction with Residence life department and ASLMU green lmu will be running an outreach campagain and contest during the month of april to encourage students to conserve energy/resources and live a green life via a residence life building vs building energy contest. The energy use of the buildings will be tracked and compared the wining building will receive a prize.

Earth Hour every year
On March 25th, 2017 at 8:30pm LMU joined millions of people around the globe, and, businesses, and landmarks such as the eiffel tower and set aside an hour to host events, switch off their lights, and make noise for climate change action. This year Earth Hour will symbolize LMU’s commitment to giving the planet a break from our habit of consuming energy and provide an opportunity to raise awarness in the lmu community of the impact our power use has on economics and the environment. This educational outreach event will also help launch the energy contest.

Earth Week every year
Green lmu and many campus partners including ASLMU will celebrate Earth Day April 22nd and the week surrounding it by providing talks, interactive events, awareness activities, sustainability fairs, and much much more

November 16, 2017
LMU hosted a free screening of An Inconvenient Sequel and a discussion panel afterword for students.

February 1st, 2018
Green LMU partnered with the Men's basketball team to put on a Men's basketball "Go Green" game against BYU. During this game, the Sustainability Office interacted with people at the game providing statistics and information. This game featured no lids or straws available, reduced packaging waste, only recyclable products, and composting food waste. There was also a recycling based half-time activity that fans participated in.


The website URL where information about the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability is available (optional):
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Does the institution have cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability:

Earth Tones: An Environmental Art Installation
February 5 @ 8:00 am - February 13, 2015 @ 5:00 pm
Environmental Art installation at Loyola Marymount University
http://cures.lmu.edu/event/earth-tones/#sthash.BNgq4XFr.dpuf

Dancing the Environment
Kristen Smiarowski, Dance, LMU
Saltmarsh, Ballona Wetlands
How do arts educators participate in the discourse around ecology and environmental justice? The ecology of the classroom can literally be explored outdoors. The 1.5 hour workshop will be held outside in the Ballona Wetlands preservation. Workshop includes moving in an outdoor environment. No dance experience is necessary. All levels of ability welcome. Please contact us if you have special needs or accommodations. Bring comfortable shoes or sneakers. Hats, water and sunscreen are recommended. It will likely be dry in June, so no rain gear will be necessary.

BIOL/CHEM/HHSC 398
Scientific Tools for Sustainability
Dr. Lambert Doezema (LMU faculty)
This course will explore the technology and instruments that are being utilized in the interest of sustainability. Instrumentation that is being used to assess and improve pressing worldwide issues, with a particular focus on air pollution and energy sources will be discussed. Additionally, sustainability relating to works of art and other historical artifacts will be covered. This portion of the course will focus on the authentication, preservation, and restoration of such objects.


The website URL where information about the cultural arts events, installations or performances is available (optional):
Does the institution have wilderness or outdoors programs (e.g. that organize hiking, backpacking, kayaking, or other outings for students) that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
Yes

A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:

First-year LMU students can apply for ROAR (Recreational and Outdoor Activities in Rosecrans) program. This program allows students with a passion for outdoor adventure to live together in Rosecrans Hall and participate in outdoor activities. Students can participate in outdoor activities like hiking, skiing, kayaking, or simply barbequing at the beach. The ROAR program has hosted events such as Marina Del Rey Kayak Trip, Joshua Tree National Camping Trip, and even skiing and snowboarding on Big Bear Mountain.

Outdoor club takes student outdoors hiking etc. Founded in 2018.


The website URL where information about the wilderness or outdoors programs is available (optional):
Does the institution have sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences (e.g. choosing a sustainability-related book for common reading)?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:

There is a pilot program that is called Green Lion and the purpose of the program is to inform the students of the various changes that LMU has been making to the campus to make it more sustainable. For instance, reducing waste and increasing recycling efforts are some of the recent changes LMU is making to make the campus more green along with using solar panels to supplement energy needs. This program is currently available to 20% of incoming first-year students along with the Healthy Living and Learning Initiative. The program is being expanded to include a larger percentage of incoming first-year students and the hope is that it will be expanded campus wide.

living the green life in residence life.


The website URL where information about the sustainability-related themes is available (optional):
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Does the institution have programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
Yes

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:

Garden workshops. Numerous educational workshops and service days are held in the garden to educate students about the environment, gardening, food justice, and sustainability in general. They learn the life skills of urban gardening.

Sustainability workshops occur at numerous times throughout the year. For instance, during the past earth week a workshop was held regarding fair-trade, food justice, and environmental purchasing. This taught students the life skills of the environmental power of their dollar.

Guest class lectures occur from the school sustainability officer to engage students in sustainability life skills such as recycling, business, purchasing, transportation, and reducing ones own impact on the environment.


The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills programs is available (optional):
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Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:

Student employment is a large part of the LMU experience. National Reports and LMU Retention Statistics indicate that students who work are more successful because of the skills and experience they obtain on the job. The LMU Office of Sustainability depends heavily on student worker support. Currently, the office has 22 paid student employees to support the sustainability office functions and work on projects. These environmental student workers are direct employees of the office. The Office of Sustainability shares other student employees on joint projects and strategic partnerships of the office. Additionally, the on campus recycling center employs 7 student workers year-round to help pay their tuition. The true partnership of university staff and student workers has yielded tremendous results in terms of waste prevention and resource recovery.


The website URL where information about the student employment opportunities is available:
Does the institution have graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
No

A brief description of the graduation pledges:

N/A


The website URL where information about the graduation pledges is available (optional):
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Does the institution have other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives?:
Yes

A brief description of the other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:

Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Committee:
In March of 2007 President Lawton created the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Committee (E2SC), with the charge of identifying how we as a university could ideally care for our planet in our actions, while balancing real world complexities such as fiscal constraints and competing values. The committee comprises students, faculty and staff and meets regularly to discuss campus programs, events and initiatives related to sustainability.

The ASLMU Director of Environmental Responsibility is appointed each year by the elected Student President and Vice President. His/her duties include managing the bi-weekly Farmers' Market, planning and co-sponsoring events to raise environmental awareness, and being the principal advocate for students regarding resource consumption, recycling and waste management, campus sustainability and environmental justice outside of LMU. He/She maintains a Environmental Responsibility Committee each year. Applications to be a committee member are on the ASLMU website at ASLMU.org.

The Center for Santa Monica Bay Studies (Center), established in 2008, is a joint program of the Seaver College of Science and Engineering at Loyola Marymount University and The Bay Foundation. The mission of the Center is to engage in multidisciplinary research on environmental and social issues affecting Santa Monica Bay and its watersheds, and to contribute to policies and actions that improve the environmental conditions of the Bay and surrounding urban areas. The Center is a joint program of the two institutions, whose collaborative efforts provide a regional organizing body connecting research across disciplines, as well as a forum for the dissemination and discussion of results, and an opportunity for active student participation and involvement through hands-on learning experiences.


The website URL where information about other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives is available (optional):
Estimated percentage of students (full-time and part-time) that participate annually in sustainability-focused co-curricular education and outreach programs (0-100):
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.