Sustainability Links

In the same vein as the higher education articles of interest posting, we offer here a few sustainability-in-higher-ed articles of note for this week. Regular NAS readers know that we have been tracking the campus sustainability movement and its implications for the future of higher education for the past several years. Based on this research, our sense is that sustainability is a concept that sells stewardship of the earth but in fact distorts education, subverts individual liberties, and undermines Western civilization as embodied by the Judeo-Christian tradition, the family, and freedom of choice. 

Here are some articles that show how sustainability plays out on campus today:

UF Asks Gators to Mark 40 Days of Change to Commemorate Earth Day, UF Sustainability
The University of Florida’s Office of Sustainability is celebrating “40 days of change” leading up to Earth Day. So has Earth Day become the new Easter? 

Hands-On Learning Fuels Sustainability Class, Shane Arman, UW Oshkosh Today
Students at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh study the role of the university in the sustainability movement. They read Greening the Ivory Tower (1998), conduct a campus environmental audit, and participate in Recyclemania and Earth Day. See the syllabus for Environmental Studies 390: Campus Sustainability. 

Maine Students Gather for Sustainability Institute Led By Bowdoin Students, Bowdoin Campus News
Students held sustainability training sessions at Unity College last weekend. See also Bowdoin’s statement of commitment to sustainability: “Sustainability is more than an intellectual concept at Bowdoin. It is at the heart of our enduring commitment to “the common good.”