This is, by and large, a campus gone green. Virtually anyone who spends time here will be prodded into environmental awareness. And in an era of greenwashed rhetoric, when even flagrant polluters hide behind public relations teams pushing forest-friendly talk and glossy promotional pamphlets, we're happy to report that real progress is being made here. The university has found the proper approach to pursuing an ambitious and complicated vision. This approach must be consistently applied if the university is to succeed in realizing its many dreams.
The broad array of ongoing environmental initiatives is an indication of the university's progress: in the past year, the university has experimented with solar-powered street lamps, distributed reusable mugs made of recycled materials and designed a master's program in sustainable energy engineering to launch next fall. The university has also explored energy-saving and environmentally friendly housing design, including, most recently, the installation of a "green roof" on Cumberland Hall, featuring more than 12,000 seedlings.
But these projects alone do not account for the atmosphere of environmental activism that pervades the campus. Environmental efforts on this campus have been enormously successful and sustainable (forgive the pun) because they have been vertically integrated. Efforts have been made to involve students in the planning and implementation of green efforts, capitalizing on student enthusiasm and ingenuity.
Students may not be able to design a new energy-saving dorm on their own - that requires professional researchers, engineers and architects - but students make living-learning programs such as EcoHouse possible, ensuring that a green building is run efficiently by a group of residents committed to reducing their consumption. Students can't install green roofs on their own - a $350,000 project requires the university's financial commitment. But students did author a referendum asking whether students would favor paying an additional $4 student fee to support the creation of clean energy and efficiency - and an overwhelming 91 percent of respondents supported the measure.
The logic behind this success needs to be extended to other university projects. If the administration is to achieve the strategic plan's goal of becoming "a world-class, world-conscious international leader," it must creatively unite a diverse range of international students and internationally oriented student groups behind a coherent and specific mission. For the university to become "the hub of a vibrant, safe, and welcoming community ... known as a good neighbor that shares its artistic, cultural, and athletic offerings with the community," it will be insufficient to simply coordinate a team of developers. If the university is serious about tackling issues of diversity, initiatives restricted to the admissions process will be inadequate. The student body is a creative engine tens of thousands strong. If this university is to reach the heights of excellence, it must harness students' power.
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