Knox College
EN-3: Student Life

The following list highlights the student groups on campus that consider sustainability in their programming. All groups are student-governed.

The Knox College Outdoor Adventure Club (KOAC) was founded with the goals of: giving all students access to outdoor activities. Biking is foregrounded with renting bikes and bike accessories for free from the Knox Bike Shop, helping students realize the joy of biking, and encouraging the environmental alternative of biking for travel.

The Blessings in a Backpack student group provides students with a backpack of food to take home with them on the weekends. For some, this may be all the food they will have for those days that they are not in school.

Food Recovery Network (FRN) is made up of dedicated volunteers who strive to reduce food waste and promote food justice through education and prevention within the local Galesburg community.

Friends of Green Oaks (FOGO) focuses on the appreciation of nature including: environmental awareness, educational opportunities, trail clearing, invasive species control, small prairie burns, and general clean-up.

Nature Club is focused on increasing students' understanding and appreciation of nature and raising awareness about the consequences of human activity on the natural world.

Students for Sustainability (S4S) seeks to promote education and support of environmentally friendly practices. They are constantly promoting ways to maintain a sustainable lifestyle, including sponsoring many events on campus, some of which are the largest campus events each year, such as Earth Week.

In addition to the important governance function of Student Senate, there is a standing Senate Sustainability Committee that deals directly with issues on campus involving sustainability.

https://www.knox.edu/campus-life/student-organizations

Since 2008 Knox College has had a student-run, on-campus garden. In 2011 the program became official and The Knox Farm was founded. It is comprised of a curriculum-based urban farm used for classes and research projects and a student-managed production space that produces more than a half-ton of food a year for the campus cafeteria. https://www.knox.edu/offices/sustainability/food-systems/knox-farm

Nature Club maintains multiple Monarch Waystation gardens around campus, which are planted with native flowering plants that help support Monarch populations and encourage other pollinators' health. https://www.knox.edu/campus-life/student-organizations/nature-club

Knox students established the Student Sustainability Fund in 2008 as a student-run and student-driven funding source for campus sustainability projects. Administered by the Student Senate's Sustainability Committee and drawn from student activity fees, any student can request funds for a project that will directly increase the sustainability of the Knox College campus.

Students collaborate to organize multiple events during the month of April, culminating in an Earth Day Festival and Speaker, to highlight stewardship and environmentalism.
In Spring 2023, Dr Pilar Eguez Guevara, an Anthropologist/Film maker focused on local food ways in Ecuador, presented and shared a documentary as our Earth month speaker. She also gave a series of lectures/presentations in the Food Systems Class, and Urban Ag classes.
https://www.knox.edu/about-knox/our-values/sustainability/earth-month

An interactive art installation focused on working with weedy invasive species of Black Locust, was on display at Green Oaks Field Station during the spring of 2022. This exhibit reflected functional art and working with our bioregions in placemaking.

Environmental Studies course field trips (ongoing), Geology course field trips (when taught), The Maine Fisheries Summer immersion, the Alaska summer internship program (almost every summer), and Green Oaks term (every-other year, the last in 2022), all provide curriculum-based outdoor education opportunities that follow these principles.

KNox Farm hosts community scale composting workshops and a participatory program. Bioregional Herbalism workshops are offered seasonally.

Eco House, a permanent theme house on campus, is a residence dedicated to celebrating and practicing earth-conscious living, accepts students as space is available and is required to do campus-wide programming on sustainable living through the academic year.

A goal of the Students for Sustainability student organization is to educate on sustainable choices, therefore they host workshops on various sustainable life skills, such as growing microgreens and making your own soap.

Each April a Repair Fair is held, where students can bring items to be mended and learn how to do the mending themselves, to encourage reuse and repair over disposal.

The Office of Sustainability employees about 15 students to assist with ongoing sustainability initiatives, such as non-traditional recycling, the Bike Shop, and the KnoxFarm and community scale composting/3 way waste management

In 2023 a new Sustainability and Resiliency Project Leaders program was initiated where students work on term- or year-long sustainability projects and offer peer education.

Each year since 2014, Knox students are offered the opportunity to sign the Graduation Pledge of Social & Environmental Responsibility, and to wear the associated green ribbon on their commencement regalia.

The Sustainability Working Group offers students the opportunity to join with faculty, staff, and administrators in defining the priorities and actions of the college with regards to sustainability. This group meets monthly, and participating students contribute through decision-making task forces, discussion, and deliberation.