Luther College
EN-3: Student Life

The Environmental Concerns Organization (ECO) is a student organization that strives to bring awareness to ecological and consumer issues by working with the Luther and Decorah Communities. They aim to think globally and act locally. They often work in collaboration with the sustainability department on some projects, but coordinate many things on their own.

The Luther Gardens were established in 2004. At that time there were two part-time student workers tending the gardens. Currently six student workers are responsible for growing food for the college on a 1/2 acre of ground, located 1 mile from campus. All food grown in the student production gardens is sold to Dining Services (Sodexo-operated). Additionally, there are two sizeable edible landscapes prominently located on central campus. There is a 1/2 acre community garden where faculty, staff and students have the opportunity to subscribe for a plot to grow food for personal consumption. Two students assist with the coordination of a CSA reimbursement program for faculty and staff.

For the past few years a student worker has been responsible for coordinating "Bargain Barn" sales at Luther. All items that the college no longer needs or wants are taken to our barn to be stored until they are sold at a barn sale. A student worker is in charge of pricing items, publicizing the sale to the campus and community and posting items online.

Every winter since 2010 Luther has hosted the Oneota Film Festival, which has a major sustainability tilt. The festival has been geared towards first year students in past years, but is open to the general public and all of campus. Luther brings at least three sustainability-related speakers to campus each year. Within the last year, speakers have included Philip Ackerman-Leist (Green Mountain College), John Ikerd and Vandana Shiva. Luther's Fall 2013 chapel series was a partnership with the Center for Sustainable Communities. Titled "What we need is here: Living in Sustainable," chapel lectures drew from texts throughout Scripture and from the wisdom of various disciplines to engage in conversation about sustainable living in everything from the environment to our own schedules. The title of the series is from Wendell Berry's poem, "What We Need is Here."

Luther College celebrates the cultures of the world when it hosts Ethnic Arts Festival. The festival, which began in the 1980s, features presentations, programs and displays by Luther's international students from 48 countries. Ethnic Arts Festival is designed as an educational and entertaining activity for all students, as well as community members. Participants can tour the world with their own "passport," getting it stamped while they visit with students who provide information about their home countries. This event helps to everyone in the community to further understand and appreciate the diversity of cultural backgrounds represented on campus. An art exhibit entitled "Talking Trees" was installed on campus in Fall 2013, in which the sounds of nature mingle with music created by composers Brooke Joyce and University of California-San Diego composer-in residence Harvey Sollberger. The project provided a walk through the forest that mixes composed music with the natural sounds like rushing water and birds chirping. The type of music and sounds being played varied according to the time of day and atmospheric conditions.

Discovery Camps are week-long environmental education programs providing hands-on learning experiences in the out-of-doors that are fun, engaging and full of discoveries! Participants learn about: woodland, wetland and prairie ecology, wilderness camping and survival, alternative energy, animal behavior, nature crafts, wilderness awareness and much, much more!

A few years ago all incoming students were required to read Oneota Flow, by David Faldet. The book discusses how the Upper Iowa River has changed and been affected by the colonization and development of the Decorah area. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of people and the natural world. When Michael Pollan came to campus to give a lecture, all students were required to read sections of Omnivore's Dilemma.

In January 2014 Luther began to offer a "Beyond the Bubble" Program, through which students have the opportunity to be paid to attend two sessions related to various life skills. The program offers both professional and personal development workshops. Some of the personal development workshops include cooking classes and informational sessions on household finance and saving energy. In 2014 there will be a series of ten free gardening classes offered to all members of the campus community and at least one cooking class each month. The Luther College Sustainability House is a co-ed, two-story home located in a residential neighborhood within walking distance of campus. The Sustainability House, also known as LEFSE (Luther’s Environmentally, Fiscally, and Socially responsible Edifice), offers a living-learning environment where students reside together that share a dedication to an environmentally, socially, and fiscally sustainable lifestyle. Members of the house take part in house meetings, book discussions, hold house leadership roles, develop an annual operating plan for the house, and also provide education and outreach to members of the Luther and surrounding communities.

At Luther we provide nearly 40 students the opportunity to be sustainability leaders through a variety of work study positions offered throughout the year. Students work in close collaboration with staff, faculty and students across campus, as well as community members. Positions include: 1. Sustainability office workers take on a variety of projects, from website management and marketing to implementing sustainability initiatives such as Green Room Certification, the Bargain Barn, Trash to Treasure, and much more. 2. Gardeners: During the summer gardeners are responsible for the planting, harvesting, and general upkeep of the Luther gardens and greenhouse, which provide produce to Luther Dining Services. 3. Recyclers, who make daily rounds to residence halls and academic building to collect recyclables, redeemables, and compost. 4. Sustainability Educators/ Sustainability Reps (see EN-1)

The Graduation Pledge is a pledge of social and environmental responsibility that graduating seniors are encouraged to sign saying that they will be socially and environmentally responsible throughout the rest of their life, specifically in their careers. The pledge reads as follows: "I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work."

http://www.luther.edu/sustainability/get-involved/announcements-events/headlines/?story_id=494729 http://oneotafilmfestival.com/register/ http://students.luther.edu/~eco/garden/ https://www.luther.edu/sustainability/education/out-of-the-classroom/house/