Luther College
EN-3: Student Life

Sustainability-related student groups include:
-Active Minds
-Black Student Union
-Educators for Social Justice
-Food Council
-Habitat for Humanity
-International Student & Allies Association
-Latines Unides
-Platform at Luther College
-PRIDE

College Farm:
Luther has a college farm where students work to grow and sell food to the college cafeteria. The farm consists of 1/2 acre of outdoor production and a 30x96 high tunnel, which allows for seasonal extension. Over the past three years, an average of eight students have the opportunity to work in the gardens and dozens more are engaged through volunteer opportunities and events. Students also help oversee the Luther Community Garden where students, staff and faculty have garden plots. Additionally, students coordinate the college's Cafeteria to Community Program where excess food from the cafeteria kitchen is packaged and donated to the local food pantry. Students are also supported through internships with Seed Savers Exchange and local farms.

Edible Landscapes:
Luther has two edible landscapes on central campus. The goals of these edible landscapes are to demonstrate the beauty of diverse vegetables and edible flowers, reconnect people with food plants and inspire visitors to consider including edibles in their own home landscapes. One garden is located between Valders Hall of Science and the Valders Greenhouse and the other can be found between Ylvisaker Hall and Miller/Dieseth Halls.

Community Gardens:
Luther has community garden plots available for faculty, staff, and students. Three sizes of community garden plots are available. The full plots are approximately 20'x20' ($30), half plots are 20'x10' ($20) and student plots are 10'x10' ($10).

Luther College's farm is run by students with faculty and staff assistance.

The farm consists of 1/2 acre of outdoor production and a 30x96 high tunnel, which allows for seasonal extension. Over the past three years, an average of 8 students have had the opportunity to work in the gardens and dozens more are engaged through volunteer opportunities and events. Students work with Luther College Dining Services to sell their produce to the college.

There are student representatives to Luther's Responsible Investment Advisory Committee (along with faculty and staff). The committee interacts with the Board of Regent's investment committee. More information can be found at https://www.luther.edu/sustainability/energy-climate/responsible-investment-advisory/

Luther has had fewer live events during COVID, but Luther hosted Climate Justice Week April 18-24, 2021. https://www.luther.edu/climate-justice-week/
The event featured:

- A climate-focused letter writing drive to Member of Congress
- Green Dorm Room contest
- Green Scavenger Hunt
- Clean up, planting, restoration events
- Walks in natural settings
- Sustainability-focused chapel services
- Tour of Luther's solar arrays
- A free Earth Day picnic for the entire campus community: Less Waste, Plant-Based, Great Taste!

Climate Justice Week also featured Virtual presentations by two external speakers:

Environmental Justice and Clean Energy
April 20, 2021, 7 p.m.
Sandra Henry is the senior director of energy and sustainability for Elevate, an organization addressing environmental justice in the Chicago area by helping to develop minority-owned businesses in the clean energy industry. At Elevate, Henry works to create clean energy access and climate solutions to advance a more equitable and just clean energy future.

Susan Crate
Anthropology & Climate Change: Actions & Transformations
April 21, 2021, 7 p.m.
Because most of humanity uses an Indigenous or local knowledge system to understand the world, anthropology has a specific role to play as a knowledge broker for these communities. Susan Crate is an environmental and cognitive anthropologist who will share how she conducts this work and what is needed to slow down and curtail climate change for the preservation of the world’s indigenous people.

Crate is a professor of anthropology in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University. She has worked with indigenous communities in Siberia since 1988.

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. 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.

Endeavor Together, Luther's outdoor orientation program, utilizes Leave No Trace for its local and regional trips. More explanation of the Endeavor Together program can be found in the Points of Distinction section. https://www.luther.edu/pre-orientation/

For middle school students: 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. https://www.luther.edu/environmental-outreach/discovery-camp/

The “Paideia Texts and Issues Lecture Series,” sponsored by the Paideia Endowment since 1983, encourages intellectual discussion across disciplinary lines. The Paideia Governing Board selects four to five presentation proposals each year from faculty across the campus to present to the college community on issues or texts that are central to the liberal arts. Paideia is a required class for first years at Luther College.

The theme for the 2020-2021 Texts and Issues was "Building Community in a Changing Society" and included lectures such as "Resilient Communities in a Time of Change."

The Center for Ethics and Public Engagement's Book Group partnered with Winneshiek Energy District in February, 2021, reading Gretchen Bakke's "The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future," a book about the history, science, and politics surrounding the electricity grid. Two online discussion dates were offered, at two times that would be convenient to students and community members. Free books were offered by CEPE. Students were especially encouraged to join, but the group was open to all.

The Luther College Sustainability House is a co-ed, two-story home located in a residential neighborhood within walking distance of campus. This house 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.

Luther has community garden plots available for faculty, staff, and students. Three sizes of community garden plots are available. Student plots are 10'x10' and cost just $10 for the whole season.

At Luther we provide as many as 40 students the opportunity work with the Center for Sustainable Communities. Students work in close collaboration with staff, faculty and students across campus, as well as community members.

Positions include:
1. Cafeteria to Community Coordinators
2. Garden Crew members
3. Sustainability Educators
4. Sustainability Dorm Team leaders
5. Move out leaders and team members

https://www.luther.edu/sustainability/get-involved/work-study/