Macalester College
EN-3: Student Life

Descriptions from the different Organization's own websites and the Macalester Student Organization Directory.

Sunrise Macalester: Mac Sunrise takes inspiration from the national Sunrise Movement to take action against climate change. Our goal is to promote student advocacy around climate justice and equity. Students have and will continue to take action in favor of progressive climate policies like Minnesota's Green New Deal by organizing and executing mass calls to representatives, office visits, and peaceful protests.

MULCH: MULCH (Macalester Urban Land and Community Health) is a student group with a mission to educate Macalester and the surrounding community about urban agriculture, environmental justice, food and gardening. MULCH maintains a garden on the Macalester campus and provides fresh produce to Cafe Mac. The recent addition of chickens has also brought with it the opportunity to further teach small scale urban agriculture.

MacFEAST: The purpose of MacFEAST (Food, Ethics, Advocacy, and Sustainable Transitions) is to create and sustain changes in the Macalester community, increase awareness surrounding food issues, and establish and cultivate a relationship between Bon Appetit and the Macalester students, faculty, and staff.

Food Recovery Network: Food Recovery Network coordinates volunteers to package leftover food from the dining hall which is distributed to shelters by Fish and Loaves, a local charity group.

MacCARES: MacCARES (Macalester Conservation and Renewable Energy Society)is an organization dedicated to bringing the advances in conversation practices and renewable energy to Macalester. Focusing on student projects and practical implementation, Mac Cares works to bring the way we live into alignment with the ideals we hold

MacBike is a student-run organization at Macalester College that promotes bicycle-use both on campus and in the greater Twin Cities community. MacBike supports bicycling as a fun, sustainable, and socially just form of transportation.

MULCH, Macalester Urban Land and Community Health, is a student group with a mission to educate Macalester and the surrounding community about urban agriculture, environmental justice, food and gardening. MULCH maintains a garden on the Macalester campus and provides fresh produce to Cafe Mac and occasional pop-up farmer's markets.

The recent addition of urban chickens has also brought with it the opportunity to further teach small scale urban agriculture.

https://www.macalester.edu/mulch/

MacSHARES is a student run organization that provides access to locally-sourced organic food and produce at an affordable price. This student grocery cooperative purchases high quality, sustainable food in bulk and sells it to Macalester students for a reduced rate.

Additionally, the Macalester MULCH garden sells its surplus produce to Bon Appetit.

The Environmental Studies department hosts a regular EnviroThursday speaker series, a weekly lecture on environmental topics for students both within and without the ES Department.

In spring of 2020, Macalester displayed a series of student made projects called "Make Art Not Waste". These projects used a range of mediums, including wire, spray paint, bottle caps, and captured each student's artistic visual representation of sustainability. The goal of the display was to use a new method to engage the student body in thinking about our goal of zero waste.

The Macalester ceramics studio also hosts the Empty Bowls fundraiser each year, an event where students, staff, and faculty of all experience levels gather to make ceramic bowls which are then sold and the proceeds are donated to a hunger-related charity.

The Outing Club offers adventure in the great outdoors through inexpensive trips, reasonable gear rental and expedition-planning assistance. Student led trips are offered minimally each Fall and Spring break. The Outing Club hosts workshops specific for winter camping, low impact camping, and invites the Wilderness Medicine Institute to host first aid courses.

Macalester also offers a pre-orientation outdoor program for incoming first years. Macward Bound seeks to provide shared experiences in which new students will experience supportive community, relationship building and reflection in an experiential outdoor environment. Outdoor camping experiences include the practice of packing out trash, minimizing campfire impact, and more in accordance with the LNT principles.

Starting with a crafting of a new Sustainability Plan that is currently underway, the sustainability office is shifting its focus to be centered around environmental and social justice, thus changing the way sustainability is viewed by Macalester students to be more inviting.

During the spring of 2020, the sustainability office hosted weekly virtual panels, each with a different environmental justice theme, including food justice, and sustainability and activism during a pandemic.

In addition to Dirty Training, a program for first years to learn the basics of waste sorting at Macalester, the Sustainability website has a page offering tips for sustainable living. In the past Macalester has hosted a community skills share, a sustainability fair, and other events with stations that teach living skills, from clothes mending to how to attach a bike to a city bus.
The EcoHouse is a housing option that operates as a "living laboratory" where students can live in a building equipped with green renovations such as a recyclable steel roof, wall insulation, and more.

Sustainability Office: The Macalester Sustainability Office employs 8-12 students each semester to develop sustainable projects, continue ongoing projects like our Free Swap, and increase outreach and education about sustainability topics on campus.

Zero Waste Coordinator: The Zero Waste Coordinator develops and promotes events around campus pertaining to Zero Waste, like free clothing swap events, initiatives to increase waste sorting through signage and message broadcasting, and other projects.

Facilities Data Manager: The Data Manager in Facilities manages the Zero Waste data-- numbers pertaining to Macalester's levels of composting and recycling.

Bon Appetit work studies: At Macalester, a special position through Bon Appetit offers student workers the chance to work directly with the cafeteria to improve sustainability of food sources by researching farms and other food producers and making recommendations.

Since 2000, Environmental Studies students have organized the "Senior Graduation Pledge" for commencement. Taking the pledge is voluntary; students determine for themselves what they consider to be socially and environmentally responsible. The students who pledge wear a green ribbon on their graduation gown.

The Civic Engagement Center regularly offers volunteer opportunities working with local sustainable organizations and initiatives like Urban Roots.