University of Mount Union
EN-3: Student Life

We have two sustainability-related student organizations on campus. Students for Environmental Awareness (SEA) focuses on environmental issues and is an active organization, co-sponsoring such events as RecycleMania and Earth Hour. Janus is a social justice-oriented club that was inactive for the past two years.

The facilities at the University's Huston-Brumbaugh Nature Center include an educational garden that provides limited organic produce to friends of the Center and a living classroom for the student volunteers that contribute to its maintenance. North Webb Community Garden provides students with volunteer opportunities and follows organic practices. The Veccitable Farm/CSA, a local organic farm that started a CSA in 2013, served as a host for student volunteers, did on-campus cooking demonstrations in partnership with the student-run programming board, and welcomed academic classes for tours.

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Members of the Sustainability Management Advisory Committee (SMAC) presented at the annual Leadership Conference organized by Student Senate. The presentation was entitled "Live a Better Story" and focused on helping students see the bigger picture of which they are a part and which they impact through their decisions and actions. SMAC will be regular contributors to the Leadership Conference moving forward. The Not Another Statistic Conference, hosted annually by the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, offers several sessions on social-justice-related topics to promote peace building and non-violence.

The 2014 Heffern Lecture featured Shawn Seipler, executive director and co-founder of Clean the World. This lecture series focuses on ethical business practices and Seipler discussed social entrepreneurship, which he practices through an organization he created to recycle wasted cleaning products from large hotel chains and provide them to citizens of developing nations. The student-run Raider Programming Board contracts external performers, including comedians, musicians, and spoken word poets, who often include sustainability-related topics in their sets. Through these performances, students have learned of such issues as about genetic modification of food, climate change, over population, green washing, chemical fertilizers & pesticides, monocrops, and many other relevant, current issues.

PL 290 Environmental Ethics. This course introduces students to ethical issues associated with the relationship between humans and the natural world. An aspect of this course is a wilderness trip to the Adirondack Mountains. PY 350 Social Responsibility and Personal Well-Being. This is an experientially-based course that looks at the effect of service and other forms of helping behavior on ones’ sense of well-being. This involves a week-long Spring break service project in Latin America. Students most commonly have traveled to El Salvador to dig latrines for communities in rural villages as arranged through the organization ASAPROSAR - Salvadoran Association for Rural Health. In 2014, however, students traveled to Guatemala to lay foundations for two houses through the Organization for the Development of the Indigenous Maya (ODIM), BI 226 Tropical Biology Field Experience. An intensive, three week study of tropical biology. Students will explore and conduct field studies in major tropical ecosystems in Costa Rica. EGE 498: Internship in Engineering.

For the 2014-2015 academic year, training for the Student Affairs Student Staff, consisting of approximately 120 students across three leadership positions, will be themed around a book entitled Thirteen Reasons Why. The book explains interconnectedness and the rippling, often unknown, effects of our actions. These ideas will be applied to teach sustainability concepts and skills such as systems thinking, planning for unintended consequences, tragedy of the commons, hidden connections (between natural, social, and economic systems), and so on. The following courses are First Year Seminars, interdisciplinary semester-long classes designed to engage first-year students in critical thinking and experiential learning on topics related to social and/or environmental justice: FYS/05 One Person Can Change the World. One person can make a positive difference in the world. This seminar shows how that’s happening through a series of readings, Ted Talks, inspired lectures and guest speakers. By the end of the semester you will develop your own idea and have a plan for changing the world around you. FYS/08 Nature: Past, Present & Future. With the publication of Bill McKibben’s The End of Nature, the concept that humans could be separated from the ecosphere of the earth is also ended. McKibben argues – convincingly -- t that we are major shapers of the ecosphere; our actions impact every square inch of the planet. And yet, for most of western cultural history we have operated as if humans were separate from the natural world, unable to shape or impact it in any lasting way. In this seminar we will explore the western tradition of separation from Nature and its consequences for humans and the environment. Students will read seminal, original works that had an impact on the perception of relationship between humans and the biosphere. They will use these works, contemporary writings, and personal experiences to construct statements about their relationships to the environment and their own ethical perspectives about how humans should interact with it. FYS/12 Martyrs or Fools? Heroes of Faith Based Social Justice. This course investigates the lives and work of individuals who, based on religious values and commitments, have worked for social justice and change in their particular contexts. Through the use of both primary and secondary resources, students will consider some of the “greats” in this area: Mohandas Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Archbishop Oscar Romero, William Wilburforce, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and others. The course will also pay some attention to the work of more local individuals who likely will never be famous for their efforts but who nonetheless have dedicated their lives to the work of social justice and change. The course will include a service-learning option and a site visit to an appropriate venue(s). FYS/26 You are What You Eat: Understanding Our Food Supply. Despite major advances in medical science, Americans have increasing rates of obesity and related rates of diabetes, heart disease, and other diseases. Some say this may result in the first generation of Americans who may not live as long as their parents. Processed foods and reliance on “junk” food is a major reason for the increases in obesity. This seminar will examine how our food is made and marketed. Students who take the seminar will be become better lifelong consumers of food, leading to a healthier lifestyle. The following themes are comprised of junior-level course clusters that are available to students to meet core curriculum requirements. While other themes are also options, the following are those related to sustainability: Cluster 4 – Ethics, Justice, and Society Cluster 6 - Food Ways Cluster 11 - Resource Systems Cluster 14 - Culture and Global Society Cluster 15 - Globalization: Competition vs. Cooperation Cluster 19 - People and Place: Culture and Environment of the Appalachians See Notes section for links to complete lists of FYS and Themes courses, and for course descriptions.

Students taking LDR 250 (Practicum in Leadership) and students involved in the campus-wide programming board learn sustainable food behaviors through a program called Good Eats Dinners. This program brings together students of RPB, guest performers, and a guest chef for a locally-sourced, sustainably-produced meal. Students assist with harvesting, grocery shopping, and food preparation. In addition, the Huston-Brumbaugh Nature Center offers regular skills-based workshops to the full campus community. These have included herb gardening, soap-making, cooking with local fruit, repurposing, woodcarving, and other topics that encourage local, self-reliant living.

Each year the sustainability leaders recruit 8 to 10 Green Raiders (formerly Eco-Reps). Recruitment efforts include upperclassmen but also intentionally target first-year students during the summer orientation programs so as to hopefully cultivate interest and awareness early on in students' tenure at the University. Student employment opportunities are also available at the Huston-Brumbaugh Nature Center where students have the opportunity to work directly with sustainability-related outreach programs (such as seminars on how to compost or build your own rain water collection system) and tools (such as a biodiesel converter).

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Help the Way You're Needed is a seminar and scholarship competition geared toward teaching students that the purpose of service is more about meeting a need and less about dedicating a minimum number of hours to doing activities they find enjoyable in order to be able to add community service to their list of involvements on their resume. The skills/competencies we are working to cultivate include listening, needs assessments, careful use of resources, consideration of the long-term impact of one’s decisions, building relationships, a spirit of service, and so on. In essence, this is an effort to cultivate responsible citizenship and an orientation toward social justice.

Not Another Statistic Conference: http://www.mountunion.edu/nasc Raider Programming Board: http://www.mountunion.edu/raider-programming-board First Year Seminar courses: http://www.mountunion.edu/fys Themes courses: http://www.mountunion.edu/theme-courses