University of Dayton
EN-3: Student Life

The Student Government Association President and Vice President annually appoint committee chairs to their Sustainability Committee. The Sustainability Committee chairs can add additional members to their committee in order to work on their initiatives for the year. In the 2019-2020 school year, the committee held a Tie Dye event that educated students on sustainability in the fashion industry, helped organize a Climate Strike, purchased collection boxes for plastic grocery bags, and had discussions with dining services about reusable cups. In the 2020-2021 school year, the committee held a book club event, hosted a virtual event for students on environmental racism, helped plan the Earthfest and the farmer’s marker for the next fall, and implemented plastic bag recycling on campus.
https://1850.udayton.edu/sga/sustainability/

River Stewards
The River Stewards program is the flagship program of the Rivers Institute administered by the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community at the University of Dayton. The three-year interdisciplinary program focused on leadership development and civic engagement is based on the model of learn, lead, and serve. River Stewards participate in weekly mini-courses, provide service to the community, and work together to develop a project their senior year. Interested students can apply to become a River Steward in the second semester of their freshman year. Currently there are over 45 River Stewards within three cohorts. The River Stewards come from over 25 different majors and represent all undergraduate academic units at the University of Dayton.
https://udayton.edu/artssciences/ctr/fitz/student-servant-leadership/river-stewards/index.php

Sustainability Club
Sustainability Club is a student-run organization whose mission is to educate University of Dayton students about important environmental and social issues in efforts to inspire students to action. In many events the club has focused specifically on issues and topics relevant to the Dayton area, such as red-lining, food security, and water protection. However, the club hosts a variety of events including educational and interactive meetings, speaker series, local hiking trips, organic and vegan cookouts, and documentary screenings. Additionally, the club leads campus wide events including Sustainability Week and GreenSweeps and assists at events such as EarthFest and climate strikes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the club shifted to an online format and released Sustainability Guides on Instagram, hosted speakers over Zoom including an environmental lawyer, environmental resource manager, and a Miami Valley Bike representative. Sustainability Club helps foster collaboration between sustainably minded campus organizations and brings to life the visions of many student project ideas, by working with groups like Re-Volv, Fair Trade Coalition, UD’s Sunrise Movement and more.
https://udayton.edu/studev/leadership/involvement/student-life/org-sustainability.php

UD RE-Volv chapter. RE-volv, a national nonprofit in San Francisco, was founded in 2011 to finance solar energy projects for other nonprofits. Through crowdfunding, they raise the money for solar projects and get paid back over time to pay for additional projects using what they call the "Revolving Solar Seed Fund." RE-volv launched their Solar Ambassador Program in 2015 at five Universities across the country (UD was one of the five) where students now plan and lead solar energy projects in their cities. Students at each school focus on nonprofit outreach and community education about the economical and environmental benefits of solar energy. In 2018, the UD Solar Ambassadors installed a 12 kW rooftop solar PV system at a community partner location, Mission of Mary Farm Cooperative. Following that success, the UD Solar Ambassadors partnered with East End Community Services in 2020 to expand their current rooftop array by 27 kW. The UD Solar Ambassadors are in talks with several other nonprofits to get more solar leases signed. https://re-volv.org

Mission of Mary Cooperative
Mission of Mary Cooperative is an urban farming non-profit organization that works in east Dayton. They focus on the issues of food and economic social justice especially the issues of healthy food affordability and access. The work done at Mission of Mary aims to provide tangible benefits for the people of the community as well as the vacant and forgotten land of the neighborhood. They have a network of 6 urban farming plots and grow 65 different varieties of fruits and vegetables. Many classes and student projects partner with the farm. There are also Semester of Service students through ETHOS that can work at the farm for a semester.
https://www.missionofmary.org/

UD Campus Garden
The campus garden is a half acre space located less than a mile from the UD main campus. FM partnered with the Hanley Sustainability Institute student leaders program to create the garden in 2019 and continue to work together to support ongoing work. Our garden includes veggies, herbs, berries and perennial, edible native plants that we share with UD dining services and provide free to the campus community. We harvested approximately 1000 lbs of produce in 2020 and look forward to expanding the garden areas in future years; engaging with campus academics, student wellness and campus recreation; and continuing to provide food for campus dining and the campus farmers market. The garden is open to all of campus. The garden team welcomes volunteer groups from across campus and look forward to the upcoming academic year to continue to engage with more students, faculty and staff.

Flyer Enterprises, a student-run business enterprise operating both physical cafe locations and web-based services, has taken great strides over the past few years to meet sustainability goals set by the UD community. FE aims to create a competitive advantage for their employees by providing experiential education through the operation of profitable, ethically-focused businesses that serve the needs of our stakeholders.

Mission:
To contribute to a thriving, diverse business while creating a rewarding experience for our community.

Initiatives:
The executive team plans to introduce a new position during spring 2022 titled Vice President of Development. Responsibilities of this position will include fostering alumni relations, incorporating sustainable practices into our business plans, and implementing the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan that was created during spring 2021. Dedicating an entire position to these initiatives will direct FE towards an ethically-focused growth strategy and provide student employees with the ability to make a positive impact in a company's operations.

In addition, FE continues to increase recycling and composting efforts by partnering with the Hanley Sustainability Institute to adopt best practices at each location. Some of these include: composting coffee grounds at our coffee divisions, using compostable cups at our cafes, and providing eat-in options where possible with reusable mugs, plates and silverware.

Stuart’s Landing and Fly By are thrilled to announce their strawless initiative, following in Dining Services’ footsteps. In addition, Stu’s will incorporate the usage of reusable university bags that each first-year student will receive upon fall 2021 move-in.

Our Operations Managers have worked diligently to create signage and visual aids for customers and staff that designates what items can be recycled and what should be considered waste.

Green Revolving Fund. A student-led research project suggesting the University establish a green revolving fund is promising a big payoff to the University in cost savings, innovation, learning opportunities and creating a greener campus. The University invested $1 million to seed the new Green Revolving Fund, designed to encourage the community to look at the entire campus as a laboratory, classroom and testing ground for energy-saving ideas. The University started the fund with $1 million — primarily from rebates the University received from the Dayton Power and Light Co. and other organizations for already-implemented measures to save electricity. Ideas for projects can come from anyone on campus — students, faculty, staff, researchers — who work with facilities management to identify opportunities and develop the projects. Projects are given the green light based on projected savings in operational costs and are encouraged to include an educational component. Energy savings are tracked and those savings are credited back to the Green Revolving Fund to build the fund's balance to fund the next project.

The Hanley Sustainability Fund (HSF) is a student-managed equity portfolio that operates out of the Hanley Trading Center. HSF’s goal is to outperform the S&P 500 while investing in companies that embrace sustainable initiatives such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing waste and scrap, using resources in an efficient manner, limiting reliance on fossil fuels, or introducing and developing products that enable customers to do the same. HSF provides a real-world learning experience to its 50 members that is inclusive to all undergraduate majors at the University of Dayton. Upon completion of an eight-week Junior Analyst development program, members contribute directly to the success of the Fund. In addition, HSF provides endless opportunities for outstanding internship and full-time placements with guidance from the Fund's prestigious alumni network. By integrating academic theory with real-world investment skills, HSF strives to create an experiential learning environment that fosters both personal and professional development, which produces well-rounded individuals for today's competitive markets.

Women in Clean Energy Conference
The Women in Clean Energy Conference aims to provide students and recent graduates from all fields the resources they need to begin a meaningful career in clean energy and sustainability. In 2019, the conference was hosted at the University of Dayton and in 2021 UD students hosted the conference virtually on zoom. The conference has had female speakers on topics related to Clean Energy Implementation & Development, Clean Energy Regulation & Policy, and Energy Justice & the Social Impact of Clean Energy. https://udayton.edu/artssciences/ctr/hsi/student-opportunities/women-in-energy.php

Social Practice of Human Rights
The Human Rights Center hosted its 4th biennial conference the Social Practice of Human Rights Conference SPHR19 on October 1-4, 2019.
The SPHR conference serves as a platform to bridge the divide between scholars and practitioners, enable critical reflection on human rights research on and for advocacy, and cultivate potential collaborations and initiatives that can be supported by the Human Rights Center and partners. Their Call for Papers encouraged submissions on topics that address themes and their intersections including Eco-economic transformation: emphasis on intersectional inequality, redistributive models, corporate accountability, and environmental sustainability and climate justice. Students and classes attend the conference.
https://udayton.edu/blogs/udhumanrights/2019/19-03-06-sphr19-cfp.php

2020 Gilvary Symposium
The University of Dayton School of Law, the Hanley Sustainability Institute and the University of Dayton Human Rights Center virtually hosted the 2020 Gilvary Symposium. The symposium explored the topic, "Building a Green New Deal in the Rust Belt: Legal, Policy and Democratic Challenges." It featured Keynote Speaker Robert C. Hockett, Edward Cornell Professor of Law, Cornell Law School. Professor Hockett explored the topic, "Financing the Green New Deal and Institutional Reform." The symposium also featured five panels related to the Green New Deal. The symposium audience was the campus and regional communities.
https://udayton.edu/law/events/gilvary-symposium.php

Growing Local Solar Workshop 2019
On March 20, 2019, the Hanley Sustainability Institute at the University of Dayton co-sponsored the first Growing Local Solar Workshop. This event was hosted by Green Energy Ohio, the Ohio Environmental Council and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. This daylong workshop provided community-based tools to enable solar development in Ohio through a series of panel discussions, speakers, a plenary session and a guided tour of the University's solar array.
https://udayton.edu/artssciences/ctr/hsi/growing-local-solar-workshop/index.php

Outdoor Adventure Club (https://udoutdooradventurec.wixsite.com/udoac)
The purpose of the Outdoor Adventure club is to offer a unique outdoor experience to University of Dayton Students, to educate students about different outdoor activities, to promote a love of the outdoors and the environment, to offer a relaxed and memorable experience, and to inspire a passion for an outdoor lifestyle and land stewardship. Students on OAC excursions, such as backpacking, hiking, camping, canoeing, rock climbing, are required to follow Leave No Trace principles. This group is student-governed.

River Stewards (https://udayton.edu/artssciences/ctr/fitz/student-servant-leadership/river-stewards/index.php)
Students in this leadership program follow Leave No Trace principles on their kayaking trips in the Great Miami River watershed. This group is not student-governed.

Campus Recreation’s Outdoor Engagement Center (OEC)
https://udayton.edu/studev/health_wellness/campusrec/outdoor/index.php
Campus Recreation’s Outdoor Engagement Center (OEC) provides the University of Dayton and the surrounding community with opportunities and resources to engage the natural world in a sustained, collaborative, and meaningful way that promotes a lifelong appreciation for the outdoors and personal health and wellness. The OEC embodies UD’s principles of community living by offering outdoor experiences and equipment that lead to outcomes connected to the holistic development of individuals and groups, while welcoming all individuals regardless of their experience or skill level. These efforts are dedicated to sharing knowledge and providing direct experiences that educate on the common good in one’s commitment to enjoying the outdoors responsibly.

SEE Integrated Learning Living Community
The Sustainability, Energy & the Environment ILLC is for students of any major. Students are invited to think critically about the myriad approaches to sustainability, energy, and the environment by integrating material from several different disciplines throughout two semesters. Humanities Commons courses will share readings and attend events together, and students and faculty in all of the courses will interact and integrate activities. The first-year seminar features guest lecturers from across the University and also includes community leaders, giving students the opportunity to explore sustainability, energy, and environmental themes from different points of view and to contribute their own ideas through projects and student-initiated events. The SEE ILLC is part of UD’s Sustainability, Energy & the Environment Initiative.

BEES Integrated Learning Living Community
The Business Ethics and Environmental Sustainability ILLC is for students of any major. Students of all disciplines negotiate the ethical and environmental landscape in which modern business is conducted. All students in this ILLC are entitled to enroll in small sections of the two economics principles classes and participate in field trips and activities with other students who care keenly about business, ethics and environmental sustainability. This ILLC is dedicated to understanding how the private and public sectors can be complementary, both working to enhance the human habitat without doing detriment to the environment.
https://udayton.edu/llc/integrated_llcs/business_ethics_environmental_sustainability_llc.php
tiative.

Rivers Stewards. The River Stewards learn the sustainable life skill of experiencing the interconnectedness of the water cycle, the watershed’s land-water connections, and sustainable water usage. This group is not student-governed. A project that the River Stewards lead that is directly related to sustainable life skills for housing is the Take Back the Tap program. All in-coming students receive water bottles, information, and encouragement to use the water bottle to drink from the tap, saving plastic from going to landfills and using imported water from other locations.

SEE Integrated Learning Living Community. As part of the LLC, the students learn about sustainable living. This includes visiting low energy residences in a nearby community (strawbale home tours; solar powered home tours). In the first year community students participate in a pilot composting program by residence hall floor and help guide the dining hall composting program.

All students can participate in the "Conscious Living Chats" residence hall education program instructing on daily water conservation, energy conservation, composting, recycling, and being an ethical consumer.

Hanley Sustainability Institute: Student Leaders
The Hanley Sustainability Institute offers graduate assistantships, post-doc opportunities, student assistantships, and internships, supporting students gaining experience promoting sustainability initiatives, green building design, food justice partnerships, and sustainability planning on campus. The student leaders are essential in reaching the goal of becoming a leader in sustainability education and working toward a more sustainable campus and community. Student Leaders gain valuable experience aligned with their passion for sustainability and their chosen vocational path.
https://udayton.edu/artssciences/ctr/hsi/student-opportunities/udsrl/sustlead.php

Rivers Institute. The Rivers Institute employs graduate assistants, interns, and students in Summer Leadership positions. Students may engage in social media, communications, event planning, outreach and education, and maintaining the RiverMobile.

School of Engineering: Graduate assistants, student assistants, internships with the following programs: Homefull, Mission of Mary Cooperative and Urban Farm, Industrial Assessment Center; Ohio Lean Buildings; Building Assessment Center
https://udayton.edu/engineering/centers/industrial_assessment/index.php
https://www.udayton.edu/engineering/centers/building_energy/index.php
https://udayton.edu/engineering/connect/ethos/index.php

The pledge is: In accordance with the University of Dayton's tradition to learn, lead and serve, I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organization for which I work.
lives is helping to build a healthy, sustainable, and just world."

Campus Plunge: Center for Social Concern, Campus Ministry
Plunges are day long immersion experiences raising awareness of a social justice issue and making learning a form of service. Plungers visit places where social injustices are seen clearly and talk to people affected by them. Although participants may see injustice that can lead to hopelessness and apathy, they also are shown opportunities to live out one’s Christian faith through service and advocacy. Current year plunges include: River Plunge (water sustainability); Urban Farming/Local Food Plunge; and the MLK Social Justice Plunge.
https://www.udayton.edu/ministry/csc/plunges.php