Roosevelt University
EN-3: Student Life

Students have helped create and manage our community garden at the Schaumburg campus and our rooftop garden at the downtown Chicago campus. Both gardens offer unique opportunities for students to engage in organic gardening. In Schaumburg, students can sign up for their own plot or volunteer in the community plot, which grows food for area food pantries. In Chicago, students help grow food for the Wabash Building's dining center. All gardening initiatives at RU are led by Environmental Sustainability Student Associates, employed by the Physical Resources department.

RU has a number of co-curricular events that have students as the intended audience. All of these events are also free and open to faculty, staff and the public. Most notable is the SUST Student Symposium – a biannual event hosted by the Sustainability Studies Program (Professor Mike Bryson). All of the presentations are given for students by students (all presenters heretofore have been Sustainable Studies Majors). These students share their sustainability-based experiences gained in internships (both at RU and elsewhere), classes and special projects with their peers, thus inspiring other students to follow in their footsteps. https://rusustain.wordpress.com/category/research/ Earth Week at RU also holds many events for students – like a healthy food demonstration and tasting at a nearby health food store, Chicago Bike Ambassadors Workshop and a sustainability-themed film screening and discussion. These events are organized and led by students. https://rooseveltgreencampus.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/earth-week-and-bike2campus-week-2015/ RU’s Political Science Department (Professor Bethany Barratt) also presents the Joseph Loundy Human Rights Project's Fall Environmental Justice Speaker Series. These talks feature local advocates for environmental justice, such as Kimberly Wasserman of Chicago’s Little Village Neighborhood. As the Organizing and Strategy Director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), Ms. Wasserman led a successful lobbying campaign for the passage of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance that resulted in the closing of the Crawford and Fisk coal-fired power plants. http://www.roosevelt.edu/News_and_Events/News_Articles/2015/20151106-Wasserman.aspx Another lecture in the Environmental Justice Speaker Series was given by the Southeast Environmental Task Force's two-time President Tom Shepherd. Mr. Shepherd's talk was titled “Deindustrialization, Reindustrialization, and Sustainable Alternatives on Chicago’s Southeast Side.” SETF’s current campaigns include stopping the Koch Brothers’ profligate transport and irresponsible management of petcoke on the Calumet River. The Task Force is currently a leader in the movement to create a green economic corridor in the Calumet region. http://www.roosevelt.edu/News_and_Events/News_Articles/2015/20151113-Shepherd.aspx In fall of 2015, RU alumnus and civil engineer, Damon Williams gave a talk entitled: “Water, Sustainability and the City.” Mr. Williams discussed wastewater treatment, water recycling, urban water conservation in arid environments, current drought and conservation measures in California, and how those issues relate to water in Chicago. https://rooseveltgreencampus.wordpress.com/2015/10/09/water-sustainability-and-the-city/

Since 2013, RU's Physical Resources department has offered the Environmental Sustainabiliy Student Associate (ESSA) part-time position. Since its inception, two positions have been offered each semester - one at the Chicago campus and one at the Schaumburg campus. Students can work one or multiple semesters, with the option of working one semester past graduation. The project opportunities for this position are wide-ranging to be sure. Here are some examples: Creating and managing organic gardens. Energy management. Green website development and management. Green event and activity planning for Earthday. Researching and then facilitating RU's planning process which led to the creation of our five-year Strategic Sustainability Plan. In spring of 2015, an exclusive Energy Management Associate part-time position was added, and in Fall of 2015, one STARS Internship was offered to assist in researching and reporting on RU's STARS 2.0 submission.

In Fall 2015, the Roosevelt Urban Sustainability Lab (or the RUSLab) was created. This is a space that was a gift of collaboration to the Sustainability Studies Program to recognize and celebrate its move from the College of Professional Studies to the College of Arts and Sciences. The inaugural projects for the RUSLab have been AASHE STARS Research and Writing Urban Nature, an environmental humanities writing project, which is posted on the RU SUST Blog. This is a space for students to come together through sustainability projects. All students at both campuses are encouraged to participate in Earth Hour through postings on elevators and throughout the buildings as well as through social media posts. RU’s five-year Strategic Sustainability Plan includes the RU Green Pledge for students, faculty and staff to sign. Each individual who signs is pledging to live more sustainably – turning off lights if you are the last to leave an office or classroom, shopping with reusable bags, eating less meat, turning off the water while brushing teeth, etc. Student Groups: While RU does not currently have active student groups focused on sustainability, there have been such groups in the past. RU Green has worked in past semesters to educate the entire campus on sustainability issues through speakers and events. RU Green will be reactivated in January, 2016 with new student leadership. RUReforestation is another group that was active in previous semesters. RUReforestation was comprised mostly of biology students and has traveled to Tanzania to assist in reforestation of abandoned agricultural fields. This group came together with the Physical Resources Department's Environmental Student Associates to organize Earth Day activities, such as a sustainability-themed film viewing and discussion, planting projects, and healthy food tastings. Another Student Group, RU’s RISE, is a student activist group. While this year’s focus is the “Fight for Fifteen” to ensure a fair wage for all, in past semesters this group has focused on sustainability issues, such as the fight against Hydraulic Fracturing, or Fracking.