Virginia Commonwealth University
EN-3: Student Life

GreenAction! is a student-led organization whose mission is to help our local and global communities become a greener place with social, economic, political, and cultural change.
URL: https://vcu.campusgroups.com/greenaction/home/

The Strategies for Ecology Education Diversity and Sustainability program (SEEDS) is a student-led organization with a mission to diversify and advance the ecology profession through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest of underrepresented students to participate, and to lead in ecology.
URL: https://vcu.campusgroups.com/seeds/home/

The Sustainable Supply Chain Society is a student-led organization dedicated to empowering students who share a common commitment to the environment and aspire to drive positive change within the supply chain.
URL: https://vcu.campusgroups.com/sscs/home/

Clean at VCU is a student-led organization that seeks to clean areas around campus and Richmond, provide volunteer service opportunities for students, and foster a community supporting positive environmental habits.
URL: https://vcu.campusgroups.com/clean/home/

Eco Fashion is a student group that promotes sustainable fashion. They aim to teach students different ways to be sustainable with their clothes and bring awareness on how their clothes have an effect on people around the world.
URL: https://vcu.campusgroups.com/ecofashion/home/

Neo Environmental Organization is a student-led organization that is dedicated to environmental innovation through projects, reforms, and partnerships.
URL: https://www.instagram.com/neovcu/

VCU has both Learning and Community gardens, located on the Monroe Park and VCU Health campuses respectively.

The VCU Sustainability Urban Gardens Program provides opportunities to learn about gardening, growing fresh produce and furthering food education. Much of the program revolves around community gardening, consisting of a piece of land gardened collectively by a group of people utilizing either individual or shared plots. VCU's community garden is publicly functioning in terms of ownership, access and organization.

Our Monroe Park Campus Learning Garden serves as an educational space, providing hands-on agricultural instruction for student volunteers and a unique opportunity to learn about the subtleties of urban farming. Students work with the Garden Coordinator to grow produce, develop garden projects for increased yield and lessened environmental impact, as well as maintain the physical space of the garden. All produce grown at the Learning Garden is donated to community partners within VCU and Richmond focused on healthy food education and alleviating food insecurity.

The community garden on the VCU Health campus provides the VCU community with space to grow their own food and flowers. Garden members pay a modest fee to rent one of 35 raised bed plots and the fees are reinvested into upkeep and maintenance of the garden.

URL: https://sustainability.vcu.edu/programs/urban-gardens/gardens.html

Shift Retail Lab is a multifunctional retail space where past and present VCU students can showcase their work to gain insights and test their products, services, and ideas with real-world customers. With their priorities being student and marginalized community access to productive spaces, they aim to build connections between local corporations and black-owned businesses. It serves as a learning lab for entrepreneurial and innovation-minded students to test ideas in the real world.

One program in the learning lab is the Shelfie program where community members can showcase ideas for about a month at a time, while receiving a stipend and programming that includes a bootcamp, feedback, and a group popup market.

Since the program debuted in 2022 there has been one focused on sustainable packaging, 18 focused on all natural or plant based products, six sustainable and eco friendly products, two focused on repurposing waste, and three focused on helping the ecosystem.

Examples of previous sustainability based products include:

Jacked! Jackfruit Jerky is combining its creator's passion for sustainable food with his love of snacks by creating plant-based jerky made from jackfruit.

Pollination Station is a series of state-curated wildflower stations that aim to offset the decline of pollinators caused by the ‘pressures of human development.

URL: https://shiftretail.vcu.edu/

In 2022, the Reparative Land Justice Initiative and the Humanities Research Center at VCU helped facilitate the launch of a lecture series honoring the late John R. Lewis. John was a co-founder of Renew Richmond and a central figure supporting black urban agriculture in Richmond and beyond. Led by a community advisory committee, the series hosts a leading figure in black urban agriculture for a public lecture and community workshop each year. Our inaugural lecturer was Malik Yakini, who presented “Growing Kale, Shifting Power and Building Food Sovereignty” on February 21, 2023.
URL: https://humanitiescenter.vcu.edu/labs/environmental-humanities-lab/

In April 2023, the Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment hosted the inaugural Symposium on Sustainable Energy and Environment. This two-day symposium invited speakers with diverse expertise to outline the challenges and ways to mitigate these adverse effects caused by fossil fuels that are consistent with the goals of the ISEE. The symposium also provided opportunities to educate the students and disseminate knowledge of sustainable environment and energy to the general public.
URL: https://isee.vcu.edu/events/annual-symposium/

The Medium is the Massage was a commission by the Cuban American artist Rafael Domenech for a year-long pavilion for self-publishing, collective reading, and programs at the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) at VCU. With a nod to the eponymous book by Marshall McLuhan and graphic designer Quentin Fiore, this project considers the forms, standards, conventions and errors that are part of exhibition making. Interested in publishing as a methodology for making exhibitions, The Medium is the Massage is a publication that the public can inhabit as a book-in-space. In keeping with the artist’s philosophy on waste, optimization, and challenging mechanisms of value, at the end of the show the public will be invited to take what remains of the show home. This installation was present at the ICA from September 9, 2022 to July 16, 2023.

URL: https://icavcu.org/exhibitions/rafael-domenech/

The VCU Sports Recreation's Outdoor Adventure Program (OAP) serves VCU students, faculty, staff, alumni and guests by providing low-cost outdoor activity-based trips, including whitewater rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, canoeing, caving, hiking, backpacking and skiing. OAP student leaders are trained in group dynamics, teaching techniques, decision making, risk management, backcountry travel, technical outdoor skills, and leave no trace principles before leading trips.On all of the trips every effort is taken to leave the campsite in better condition than it was found. The Outdoor Adventure Program takes the steps to ensure that no one leaves any trash or harms the environment on their trips.

URL: https://recwell.vcu.edu/play/outdoor-adventure/

VCU’s Common Book Program is a university-wide initiative that seeks to introduce first-year students to complex social issues through a common text. Hosted by University College and the Office of the Provost, the Common Book Program helps frame complex social issues in an interdisciplinary lens. The book for the 2021 school year was Rising by Elizabeth Rush which focuses on the impact of climate change and rising sea levels on coastal communities. The book for the 2022 school year was Organ Thieves by Chip Jones which focused on institutional racism and medical ethics in the American South. The book for the 2023 school year was Seek You by Kristen Radtke which focused on American loneliness and how people can connect with those around them.

URL: https://commonbook.vcu.edu/past-common-books/

URL: https://students.vcu.edu/departments/leadership-and-involvement/vcu-transform/

VCU Sustainability offers semester- and year-long paid internship opportunities for students interested in contributing to sustainability initiatives at the university. The office offers exciting opportunities in various fields and is always exploring new ways to get students with different backgrounds and interests to be a part of the team.

The Communications and Content Development Intern Team at VCU Sustainability works directly with VCU Administration to help share information important to their office and VCU’s sustainability practices to the whole university. A glimpse at the team’s work is managing and providing content for our social media accounts, editing and designing our website and utilizing mass communications strategies to connect with a wide-range of diverse audiences.

The Urban Gardens and Forestry Intern Team at VCU Sustainability runs the Learning Gardens at the Monroe Park Campus, the Community Garden at the Medical College of Virginia and the urban forestry initiatives in the surrounding community. To help mitigate the urban heat island effect, provide and care for green spaces and combat food insecurity, the Urban Gardens and Forestry Team play a vital role in exercising sustainable initiatives for the university.

URL: https://sustainability.vcu.edu/get-involved/student-internships/