Washington and Lee University
EN-3: Student Life

The Student Environmental Action League (SEAL) "aims to increase environmental awareness among students, promote campus sustainability, and inform students about environmental service opportunities. In addition, we give students opportunities to participate actively in improving the environment, both globally and locally." The group is funded by the Student Executive Committee (they fund student organizations), and they have monthly full-body meetings, as well as monthly officers meetings. They have a full agenda of activities each year, including Sustainability Month, and they participate in the activities of the University Sustainability Committee, too.

Engineering Community Development:Engineering Community Development combines efforts of all majors to make a positive impact on communities locally and abroad.

Campus Kitchen, which focuses on food waste reduction through food recovery and fighting food insecurity in the community (Rockbridge County, VA).

Compost Crew, includes students who reduce food waste by picking up food scraps from all venues on campus and delivering them to our on-site composting system (to turn into future compost).

We also have the Citizens Climate Lobby

“The Campus Garden was started in the summer of 2008 with assistance from Dining Services, the Biology and Facilities Management Departments and the Campus Kitchen Project. The one acre garden is planted in vegetables and herbs. Compost from the campus composting program and leaves from the campus grounds are used to nourish the plants. The produce is used by the Campus Kitchen Project and the herbs and some vegetables are used by Washington and Lee Dining Services.”

N/A

The General Development Initiative, founded in the spring of 2010, is a student-run group which funds are raised and subsequently loaned in small amounts to individuals in the developing world, specifically South and Central America for the time being, to “enable economic self-empowerment of the poor.” Returns from these microloans are thus loaned back out, creating a sustainable system, in terms of both economics and social equity.

We also have a sustainability mini-grants program to fund student-led sustainability projects. http://www2.wlu.edu/Documents/sustainability/SustainabilityMiniGrants.pdf

The Environmental Studies department hosts a Climate Change lecture series every semester. We also participate in Campus Sustainability Month, which includes speakers, movies, "Weigh the Waste", etc...

We have the Stanier Art Gallery, which has rotating exhibits, many of which are nature-focused. One of the most recent exhibits is detailed below.

Christa Bowden, Emily Gómez, Ernesto Gómez
Cumberland Island: Land, Water, Wind, and Light:
In 2016, during the national park system centennial, artists Christa Bowden, Emily Gómez, and Ernesto Gómez began a multi-year collaborative project to document the unique biome of Cumberland Island, a barrier island about the size of Manhattan, located off the coast of Georgia. The island is one of seven Atlantic Coast national seashores, and a part of the national park system. Though it has escaped wide-scale development through expansive yet politically divisive preservation efforts, Cumberland Island, like all coastal areas, is incredibly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. With this project, the artists hope to expand the existing photographic documentation of Cumberland Island in order to increase awareness of its significance and fragility, as well as to provide a record for future generations, should the island be lost or irrevocably altered due to climate change. Christa Bowden is a Professor of Photography at Washington and Lee University. Emily Gómez and Ernesto Gómez both teach in the Department of Art at Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA.

W&L generally hosts eco-poetry readings about twice a year.

The Outing Club’s mission statement says, “W&L Outing Club promotes the safe, low-impact exploration of the mountains, rivers, and trails of the southeast.” The Outing Club offers a place for positive, healthy interactions between all students, faculty, and staff without the pressures that often accompany any social or academic activity. It also teaches skills while enabling student leaders.

We have a Sustainability themed residential theme house. In the 2018-2019 academic year, 9 students lived and participated in sustainability lifestyle processes and events. This is where half of our sustainable cooking classes are currently held (school year 2019-2020).

We have opportunities for Sustainability Interns through work study. If a student is not eligible for work study and wants to become an intern, they are then paid out of the Office of Sustainability budget. In addition, we have the Compost Crew, which is a group of students who are paid to collect food waste around campus. All in all, we pay roughly 28 students through either federal funding or the Office of Sustainability budget.

Washington and Lee University does not require students to make a pledge concerning environmental responsibility upon graduation.