Sewanee - The University of the South
EN-3: Student Life

Sustain Leaders - students volunteering to lead sustainability themed projects and intiatives on campus; Environmental Residents - students living in dorms that primarily monitor the dorm waste and assist with move in and move out; Socially Conscious Investment - is a student org focused on moving the Board of Regents toward adopting both a transparent investment portfolio and one that is focused on socially conscious investments (rather than fossils fuels, for example); Green House - is a student org and theme house focused on raising ecological awareness and celebrating connection to the earth and its systems; Sewanee Water Campaign - is a student org focused on ending single-use plastics on campus; Green Fund - is a student org that manages the green fee ($6 from each student registration) to fund individually initiated sustainable campus projects; Crafting Guild - is a student org focused on using repurposed or found objects to create "traditional" crafts or learn and practice "traditional" skills (whittling, carving, etc).

We have several opportunities for students to get involved with organic agriculture and sustainable food systems. One of the biggest ways to get involved is through our University Farm. On the farm, students get hands on experience with organic, innovative farming practices. The Farm Club supplements the programming on the farm, hosting events throughout the semester.

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The Socially Conscious Investment Club works to establish transparency within the University's endowment. The second and ultimate goal is to set up a socially responsible investment policy for the endowment to ensure that Sewanee will not be financially supporting harmful industries like private prisons, companies that support child labor, or fossil fuels.They work with Green's View Capital managing a 2 million dollar impact investing portfolio that is designed more for social benefit than profit. This is all done in an effort to better reflect institutional and community values in the way we mange our endowment. The Green Fund is a student org that manages the green fee ($6 from each student registration) to fund individually initiated sustainable campus projects.

The Food Working Group - a collaboration across offices, faculty, students, and community organizations - ran a series called Fixin' Our Plate which brought in (virtually) three speakers focused on education about food injustice, the sociopolitical roots of agriculture and its ties to oppression, and the modern food system complex and the University's and community's roles within it.

Students have organized and held fast fashion and upcycled fashion events complete with runway shows and competitions.

Our Sewanee Outing Program (SOP) offers free or low-fee opportunities for students to engage in outdoor recreation on and off The Domain. Our campus is unique in the fact that there are 13,000 acres for students to participate in climbing, hiking, canoeing, caving and more!

Sewanee offers a First-Year Program option for incoming freshman. This program (FYP) is a unique course of study, open only to entering students, brings together some of Sewanee’s most renowned faculty members to help you explore all that it has meant and might mean for humans to find their place in the world, both geophysically and otherwise. Through field trips, readings, and plenty of small-group discussions, this course also encourages you to find your place, from the very start of your college career at Sewanee. Several FYP courses are sustainability themed and one course was run directly by the Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability. Additionally, as mentioned above, most years there is a sustainability -focused theme of seminars and speakers like the Fixin' Your Plate series.

The Green House is a sustainable living theme house on campus dedicated to raising student awareness and appreciation of the natural world and our effects within and upon it. They host regular events that are open to all students on campus and many are also open to staff, faculty and community members. In addition, the Green House partners and collaborates with a great number of other student organizations and offices on campus to further support and inform the campus community on topics of sustainability.

The Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability has a strong work study program with student positions at the farm, on the trails with Domain Management, in the forest and streams with Domain Research, and in sustainability communications with Sustain Sewanee. There are also opportunities for students to work with the Office through summer internships. Additionally, there are 15 paid student summer research positions. Some of these students work with Sewanee faculty and others are engaged directly with the Nature Conservancy, Green|Spaces, a local nonprofit, and others.

The Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability is also actively developing future student environmental leaders through mentorship and a series of two credit seminars. Many of these students choose to undertake meaningful projects independently, through a student organization, or in collaboration with our office on University administration level initiatives such as the carbon neutrality by 2030 commitment. All these efforts are specifically supported by the Sustain Sewanee program.