Michigan State University
EN-3: Student Life

MSU has over 80 student groups related to sustainability. Below is a select listing of student sustainability groups at MSU. For a full listing, visit: https://sustainability.msu.edu/get-involved/student-resources/student-groups.html.

Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) is a non-profit network focused on improving the world by engineering solutions to meet human needs. The Michigan State University Chapter was formed in 2015, and has been working to initiate community development based projects in the East Lansing area.

The Fisheries and Wildlife Club aims to enhance the education and professional development of students interested in natural resources through hands-on experience in management, natural resource education and outreach. They are passionate about conservation and explore a variety of interests, including ecology, conservation biology, environmental ethics, zoology and more. They promote outdoor recreation through numerous activities and hold on-campus events that support high ethical standards for the environment.

Founded in 1902, MSU’s Forestry Club is the nation’s oldest continuous forestry club. They are dedicated to helping students experience all parts of forestry, strengthen professional development in their area of study and volunteer in the local community to maintain MSU’s land grant roots and commitment to environmental stewardship.

Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) is a national organization with chapters around the country that welcome people of all backgrounds in agriculture and natural resource-related careers. MANRRS members learn valuable career building and networking skills through community service opportunities, skill-building workshops and conference preparation.

The MSU Cycling Club seeks to expand cycling on campus and improve the local cycling community. They ride both recreationally and competitively, organizing numerous events and competitions that promote bicycle awareness and education, including the MSU Gran Fondo.

The MSU Sunrise Chapter works to further the mission of the overall movement: to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.

Spartans Rebuilding Michigan is a student club that helps rebuild the local community through volunteer work and fundraising to donate to charities.

Spartan Sierra Club advocates and educates the MSU community on the importance of exploring, enjoying and protecting the planet through nature outings, education about environmental issues and grassroots political activity. As a student branch of the Sierra Club, they strive to immerse themselves in the most pressing sustainability issues and drive student participation in such efforts.

Spartan Thrift Club promotes sustainability, creativity, and financial responsibility through second-hand shopping. Their mission is to increase awareness of textile waste and environmentally conscious consumption at MSU.

Students for Cooperation is geared toward promoting collaboration between groups dedicated to the principles and values outlined in the cooperative movement. Our club is dedicated to finding and sharing important news on environmentalism and social justice, and organizing activism-based events and activities in our community.

Student Greenhouse Project strives to educate MSU and the surrounding areas on developing a campus community where people and the environment can better coexist. They are working to build an immersive tropical oasis in an iconic structure that builds on the region's agricultural heritage while showcasing the latest in sustainable design and green technology.

Sustainable Business Association is dedicated to learning sustainable entrepreneurship and business practices. The SBA hosts several panels of speakers every semester and works with faculty and staff to advocate for sustainable university practices, as well as petition the state government to adopt sustainability-based policies. 

The Sustainable Parks and Recreation Club of Michigan State University, we strive to engage in volunteering, professional networking, and social programming

Sustainable Spartans is a club that aims to build a community of like-minded environmentally conscious students who are passionate for creating a more sustainable MSU and Greater Lansing area. Through collaboration with the university and fellow students, they work to research, plan, and implement projects relating to energy efficiency, food systems, water, awareness, and the environment. The club connect students to the resources and support needed to make a difference in a large institution and otherwise.

The Urban & Regional Planning Student Association (URPSA) is the student organization of the Urban & Regional Planning Program. The group exists to promote the personal, professional and intellectual development of urban and regional planning students, and to facilitate and encourage active participation in program, university and community matters.

The MSU Student Organic Farm is a 15-acre, certified organic year-round teaching and production farm. It offers an immersive, hands-on farming experience for undergraduate crew members, participants of the Organic Farmer Training Program, and volunteers. The farm also collaborates with MSU faculty to offer courses in organic farming, internships, interdisciplinary experiential educational activities, and research opportunities. The produce output is primarily vegetables, which the farm can grow year round (outside and in hoop houses for the winter). The farm was established in 1999 and became the first farm in Michigan to offer a year-round CSA. The farm offers a 48-week Community Shared Agriculture Program. Before the pandemic, the farm hosted a weekly farm stand on campus during the growing season, which provided organic, local food to community members. The farm stand has been suspended, but community members can still purchase produce through their online store. The farm also sells produce wholesale to MSU and local organizations like the Allen Neighborhood Center in Lansing.

The farm hosts paid interns and volunteer hours, and allows field trips and tours to frequent whenever possible, and enables students to cultivate knowledge in organic and sustainable food production in their peers and in other community members. Along with opportunities for hands-on learning in marketing and business, students also learn about the institutional contracting between the university residence halls and the Student Organic Farm. The farm provides organic salad greens to the residence halls, demonstrating the importance of local business contracting and providing further business experience for students taking courses at the farm.

Land Grant Goods is MSU's first student-run business. The business sells tea, honey, and jam, which are all locally sourced from the Bailey Hall herb gardens and bee hives. Land Grand Goods strives to be a leader and model in the realm of sustainable business, focusing on ethically created, locally sourced, economically viable and environmentally conscious business practices. Land Grant Goods: Http://landgrantgoods.com/

The Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation also coordinates Spartan Marketplace, which promotes Spartan-run enterprises. https://entrepreneurship.msu.edu/marketplace/. Many of the businesses listed are run by alumni that started their business as a student at MSU. For example, Olivia Miller and Jackie Smythe founded the sustainable clothing company INFKNIT in 2018 after studying sustainability and entrepreneurship in Costa Rica. https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2019/infknit-apparel-the-right-place-at-the-right-time

The Spartan Global Development Fund (SGDF) promotes sustainable economic development by enabling entrepreneurs in developing countries to help themselves. The project was launched on July 4, 2009, with four microloans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. SGDF is comprised of two partner organizations: a registered student organization and a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Spartan Global consists of students, professors, and alumni who work to expand awareness and support for microfinance while building lasting partnerships in the quest for permanent solutions to global poverty. The organization aims to educate, inspire, and enable tomorrow’s agents of global change by raising funds locally in order to offer interest-free microloans to aspiring entrepreneurs throughout developing regions of world. To date, SGDF has made more than $117,000 in mircoloans in amounts ranging from $25 to $5,000. Spartan Global maintains a loan portfolio on Kiva, which has distributed microloans to over 3,000 individuals in 69 countries. https://www.spartanglobalfund.org/

Multiple colleges, departments and units hold sustainability-related speaker series and forums.

The Office of Sustainability hosts programs and events for Sustainability Month in October and Earth Month in April. See sample calendars from 2020-2021: https://sustainability.msu.edu/events/event-archive/2020/Sustainability%20Month%202020.html and https://sustainability.msu.edu/campus-information/news/Earth%20Month%202021.html. MSU helped co-host a special Earth Day 50.5 event with the Michigan Campus Sustainability Collective and the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum since planned events for Earth Day 50 on April 22, 2020 were cancelled due to the global pandemic. The full playlist of recordings is available here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9kO5iSTFH_h-zF1INe0NKPR0Qz_5kxq_

A Conversation with the President: Samuel L. Stanley Jr. M.D, recognized the 50th anniversary of Earth Day for MSU achieving its goal of reducing energy use by 20% in its 20 million square foot building portfolio by 2020. Through campus wide efforts, Spartans surpassed the goal and achieved an energy savings of 21% due to greater efficiency efforts as of the end of 2018. In a signification achievement, MSU beat its Better Buildings Challenge Goal 2 years early.

MSU has participated in the Solve Climate by 2030 international initiative led by Bard College, which seeks to engage young people in climate action. MSU served as the state host for Michigan in 2020 and 2021, inviting state leaders and experts to discuss feasible but ambitious actions that could be taken in Michigan to combat climate change over the next 10 years. https://sustainability.msu.edu/events/event-archive/2020/Climate-solutions-mi-webinar.html

Surplus Store and Recycling Center (SSRC) Town Halls focus on topics related to managing waste as a resource. The format gives attendees an opportunity to hear from industry experts and SSRC staff, ask questions, pick up waste reduction tips, and learn more about the complexities of sustainable materials management. 18 town halls have been held since June 2020, reaching over 17,000 views. https://msurecycling.com/town-halls/

Eat at State hosts monthly speakers series and panel discussions on food systems, sustainable food choices, farm to table practices, healthy options and impacts of industrial agriculture. MSU Culinary Services is proud to continuously enhance collaborations and partnerships with state and national organizations. In FY19, several partnerships brought representatives from Potatoes USA, the Michigan Potato Industry Commission, the Mushroom Council, InHarvest and California Walnuts to campus. In one of the events, Chef RJ Harvey, the global food service marketing manager for Potatoes USA, did a fun competition with the MSU Executive Chef Kurt Kwiatowski. It was an evening takeover featuring various potato dishes. In addition, inHarvest came to campus for Whole Grain Sampling Day and California Walnuts visited to serve “brain food” leading up to finals week. In March 2020, MSU hosted the Moving the Needle Symposium: Sustainable and Plant Forward Menus event to explore the growing trend with plant-based foods.

Many academic units hosts seminars and symposia focused in sustainability. For example, AgBioResearch hosts ""Our Table"" conversations that bring MSU faculty, staff, students and stakeholders together to discuss issues facing our food future and brainstorm potential solutions. These discussions offer an opportunity to practice communication skills in person while gaining new perspectives on where food comes from and how it impacts our health and the planet. https://www.canr.msu.edu/food/our-table/. The Department of Forestry offers the Hanover Forest Science Seminar Series and the Forest Paths Distinguished Lecture Series. https://www.canr.msu.edu/for/events/

Another example is the Environmental Science and Policy Program (ESPP), which hosts a distinguished lecture series, a research colloquia featuring graduate students, and the annual Fate of the Earth Symposium. The Fate of the Earth event features a slate of speeches, hands-on activities, art exhibits and research presentations that allow individuals of all ages concerned about the environment to meet at the same table and discuss real world solutions to environmental problems. The event was last held in 2019 and is suspended temporarily due to Covid. https://espp.msu.edu/events/past-events.html. and https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2019/fate-of-the-earth-symposium-to-take-place-april-13.

Additionally, many student groups host panels and visiting speakers throughout the year. For example, the Sustainable Business Association hosted the CEO of Land Grant Goods, Alex Marx, who presented on the formation of this value-added agriculture student-run business and what the future plans were at the time.

The MSU Broad Art Museum has curated several exhibitions related to sustainability, detailed below.

The lead exhibition from Jan - July 2021 at the museum was Seeds of Resistance, which explored the protection of biodiversity as one of the most pressing concerns facing human society, drawing together different perspectives around issues of ecological preservation by researchers, faculty and students. The exhibition built on the legacy of the MSU most revered faculty member Dr. William J Beal. who initiated what is now the longest ongoing scientific experiment in modern history, entitled the Beal Seed Viability Experiment. http://broadmuseum.msu.edu/exhibitions/seeds-fof-resistance

When the Land Speaks was a multi-part video series featuring 12 projected galleries from May 2018 - April 2019. The program presented the work of artists who explore the land as a space of conflict, which speaks through a changing, often fractured landscape. The video series addressed current issues such as resource extraction, sustainability, land rights, and displacement and dispossession. https://broadmuseum.msu.edu/taxonomy/term/11

The lead exhibition at the museum from January - August 2019 was Oscar Tuazon: Water School, which explored the relationship between art, architecture, and environmental sustainability. https://broadmuseum.msu.edu/exhibitions/oscar-tuazon

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In the Spring of 2021, the MSU Office of Sustainability hosted the Semester of the Trees. The semester was promoted to build a larger awareness and community around the preservation of the diverse MSU campus arboretum. It worked to promote several events and opportunities where community members, staff, students and alumni could engage and become a part of preserving MSU’s tree legacy. The signature event of the themed semester was the inaugural Spartan Arbor Day 5K, which raised funds for the Campus Beautification Fund.

https://sustainability.msu.edu/events/event-archive/2020/Semester-of-the-trees.html

MSU students living in the residence halls receive a mesh bag for recycling and water bottle when they arrive on campus. They also receive information about sustainable living practices, including promoting the MSU Sustainability Pledge. Throughout the year, the Spartan Green Living Certification Program is promoted to students to engage in additional sustainable practices. Students are also encouraged in sustainable living practices by Eco-Reps that live in the residence halls (see EN-1 for details on the Eco-Rep program.

First year students that participate in the Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment (RISE) are immersed in an interdisciplinary living-learning program focused on sustainability and environmental stewardship. Beyond their first year, many RISE participants are engaged in undergraduate research, hands-on projects, and co-curricular initiatives in which they can explore their interests within a supportive community of students, faculty and staff with shared values. The RISE program hosts rooftop beehives (Bailey Bees), a composting initiative, and ongoing newsletters and social media.

There are multiple sustainability-focused positions at MSU, including at the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center (SSRC), Student Life and Engagement, and the MSU Student Organic Farm. The SSRC hires student educators that promote sustainable waste practices and has hired students to work the sort line at the Materials Recovery Facility. Student Life and Engagement (formerly RHS) has a student sustainability assistant position. The assistant is responsible for assisting with a variety of sustainability programs, events, and activities, providing office support, creating presentations, developing social media content and other communications. MSU's student government, Associated Students of MSU (ASMSU), created a Director of Sustainability Initiatives postion to focus on sustainability activities and run the government's sustainability ad-hoc committee. The ASMSU position is paid. The Student Organic Farm hires 10-20 students each year as crew members that help manage the farm and serve as peer educators for visitors, tours and volunteers.

In addition, there are often student research positions that focus on topics in sustainability. For example, the Office of Sustainability supports a graduate student in developing, distributing and analyzing the university's sustainability literacy assessment in partnership with Dr. Adam Zwickle in the Department of Criminal Justice. Another example is the Center for Community and Economic Development, which hires student research assistants that engage in community development projects and circular economy work. The students work with a variety of on and off campus partners on tasks such as event planning and implementation, technical writing (concept papers, website content, press releases), electronic networking (i.e. webinars, listserv etc.), and project research activities including survey design and analysis. Job postings for student can be found on Handshake. https://careernetwork.msu.edu/resources/handshake/

The Office of Sustainability is also active in creating internship experiences for MSU students all over campus that are featured on My Spartan Story, the university's interactive platform that captures student's co-curricular experiences outside of the classroom. https://mystory.msu.edu/

The MSU Sustainability Graduation Pledge encourages students to uphold social and environmental responsibility in their personal and professional lives and take action for a global sustainable future. The pledge reads, "As a graduate of Michigan State University, I pledge to uphold social and environmental responsibility in my personal and professional life and take action for a global sustainable future." The pledge is administered through a Qualtrics form. https://sustainability.msu.edu/get-involved/student-resources/graduation_pledge.html

Representatives from student sustainability groups are invited to join the Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC) that is coordinated by the Office of Sustainability. The SSLC provides guidance to the Office while also providing opportunities for student groups to collaborate on projects and campaigns. See PA-1 for more details.