Bentley University
EN-3: Student Life

Students for Sustainable Business represent the three approaches to Sustainability (People, Planet and Profit). There is a chair for each aspect of the triple bottom line who plans events and educational experiences for both their members and the Bentley student community. Students for Sustainable Business (SSB) host different educational activities throughout the year on campus as well as provide opportunities for members to gain immersive experience outside of Bentley's campus. These have included doing beach clean ups and touring local sustainable facilities.

Bentley Sustainable Investing Group will be following Sustainable, Responsible, and Impact investing (SRI) strategies. SRI is an investment discipline that considers environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) criteria to generate long-term competitive financial returns and positive societal impact. Bentley Sustainable Investment Group offers students real-time experiential learning opportunities in security analysis and portfolio management. Our organization provides students with the experience of making group decisions on investments that make a material environmental and social impact as well as maintain financial returns.

Bentley University has 2 pollinator gardens with signage on the purpose and importance of supporting ecosystem services to foster a sustainable food system.

Signage is also place along many pathways about sustainable grounds maintenance such as organic fertilizers and native plant life in landscaping.

The Bentley Green Revolving Fund (GRF), established in 2018 through alumni donations, supports energy efficiency projects on campus with annual savings from energy efficiencies and rebates going back to the fund to support larger projects. The fund's current balance is approximately $500,000. The GRF charter requires that two students have to be part of the committee as active members and decision-makers.

Bentley University's Career Service held a Sustainability Panel with Bentley Alums who are working within sustainability. The panel is intended for undergraduates who are looking at potential career paths.

Fall of 21, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion held the 23rd annual rainbow luncheon. The luncheons are open to students, staff, and faculty. The keynote speaker at this event was Pinar Sinopoulos-Llyod. They are an award-winning Indigenous multi-species futurist and trans eco-philosopher. They co-founded queer nature and founder of diversify outdoors coalition.

The Office of Sustainability brought in Majora Carter to speak on Sustainability and Urban Revitalization. She talked about reclaiming green spaces and making them areas to bring together the local community.

Students for Sustainable Business hosts EarthFest every year, around Earth Day. This event brings together multiple different student groups on campus, who volunteer to host a table. At some of the tables, the students are given an activity to engage students and teach them about sustainability. Other tables are local vendors that are fair trade certified or obtain their products locally. Through collaborating with other organizations and having them accountable for teaching others about sustainability, they are being empowered with knowledge. Once students have interacted with at least three tables, they become eligible to get Ben and Jerry's, who present a business case for sustainability.

The Student Sustainability Leaders periodically puts up "The Cube", a 12 foot cube made out of PVC pipes, representing the volume of 1/8 of a metric ton of carbon emissions. This is an effort to make Bentley's carbon emissions more tangible to the average student and employee. This installation is set up roughly 2-3 times a semester at week-long exhibits.

In Spring 2023 the RSM Art Gallery in Bentley Universities Library showcased paintings from Bradford Johnson called "A River Twice". The art installation aimed to highlight the anxiety that many of us feel living in the Anthropocene. He revisits landscapes that have been continuously altered by humans over decades. Unearthing multiple layers of human engagement with a place from consumption and trade.

Bentley has an outdoor club called BEAR. The purpose of the BEAR Outdoors Club is to provide Bentley students the opportunity to integrate outdoor activities with their academic agenda. This club provides an outlet for the students and enables them to meet other recreationally involved students on campus. Trips include rock climbing; hiking, camping, kayaking, water holes, capture the flag, sledding, mountain biking and fishing.

Explicit Leave No Trace principles are not written into club policy but many members, through interactions and membership with sustainability groups and the Office of Sustainability, actively follow Leave No Trace principles.

In Fall 2022, the Office of Sustainability's theme was Climate Change, the Business Case for Sustainability, and Energy. A Climate Week was held with education on climate change, information for careers in sustainability, and a celebration of Bentley's progress toward 2020 climate goals.

Wellness housing communities are available for both first-year and upper-class students and foster an environment for a healthy and balanced mind, body and spirit, to achieve personal and academic success.

As a wellness housing resident, students are able to share with your floor mates common interests such as: nutrition, fitness, meditation, relaxation, yoga, sports, and ongoing health and wellness education programs

The Office of Sustainability offers six paid internships to interested students during the academic year. This program is called the Sustainability Student Leadership program. The students are responsible for running various parts of the Office of sustainability including PR and social media, event coordination, education & outreach, assistant manager, and social justice positions.