| Overall Rating | Bronze |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 42.20 |
| Liaison | Tracy Harvey |
| Submission Date | Dec. 21, 2023 |
Loyola University Maryland
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
Environmental Action Club (EAC) is an environmental club focused on advocacy and education. They hold regular meetings for club members, which tend to me more social and informational and larger events open to all students about environmental issues. At the end of the 2022-2023 academic year, they merged with a different environmental club and now have a branch that focuses on native plant biodiversity and its importance. Examples of club events include upcycling crafts / projects, educational talks from guest speakers, planting days, rally/protest trips to Annapolis or DC, canoe and scoop trash cleanup, oyster cleanings, and more.
https://bridge.loyola.edu/EAC/web_officers
https://www.instagram.com/loyolaeac/
Global Sustainable Business Club (GSBC) is a club that caters towards students interested in the intersect between business and sustainability. The club's activities are a great social and academic opportunity for International Business and Sustainability Management students in-particular, but students of all majors are welcome. The club frequently hosts guest speakers and occasionally attends conferences presenting case studies and more.
https://bridge.loyola.edu/gsbc/home/
https://www.instagram.com/loyolamd.gsbc/
Student Government Association Sustainability Subcommittee is a part of Student Government Association open to all students were environmental on-campus initiatives are discussed. This subcommittee is for students who wish to get involved in sustainability work at the university level, helping push change in university policy, procedures, and campus culture.
https://bridge.loyola.edu/sga/home/
https://www.instagram.com/loyolamdsga/
Outdoor Adventure Experience (OAE) is a group that offers weekend team building trips in nature! Activities include kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking, and more. Students may apply to be OAE leaders and all students are welcome to attend OAE trips.
https://www.loyola.edu/department/recreation-wellness/outdoor/oae
https://www.instagram.com/oae_loyola/
Does the institution have a garden, farm, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or an urban agriculture project where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
Loyola faculty, staff, and students transformed over 12,000 square feet of traditional grass lawn into an interactive certified native wildlife habitat and expanded organic community vegetable garden. The Conservation and Experiential Learning Garden (CELG) successfully expands the role of the Evergreen Campus to enhance and protect native biodiversity, facilitate meaningful interactions with the environment, and support innovative educational opportunities. It includes six large raised beds for research and produce growing and is managed by the Office of Sustainability and the Environmental Studies Minor department. Students are the garden's intended audience, as it can provide them with experiential learning opportunities, an ability to contribute to their local community from the food they grow, and access to free fresh produce for themselves.
https://www.loyola.edu/department/sustainability/arboretum/living-landscapes/conservation-garden
Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
Does the institution have a sustainable investment fund, green revolving fund, or sustainable microfinance initiative through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
The Sellinger Applied Portfolio (SAP) Fund at Loyola University Maryland was established to provide students with actual portfolio management experience. Each year the university provides the SAP Fund with up to $500,000 to invest. These funds are a component of the University's endowment. All investments within the SAP Fund are liquidated annually at the end of the course. When choosing what to invest in, students must follow the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) principles of investments. One of their principles forbids investment in immoral business activities, including, but not limited to: businesses that benefit from sweatshops and poor labor conditions, financial institutions that practice discriminatory lending practices, and companies that unnecessarily harm the environment. Thus, students cannot invest in fossil fuel companies. Students must also weigh the ESG score of the company and factor said score into their decision to invest or not. Faculty and other oversight boards ensure students are acting within USCCB and Loyola principles and standards.
Related USCCB Investment Strategies:
https://www.catholicinvestments.com/catholic-investing/company-exclusions/immoralbusinessactivities/
Has the institution hosted a conference, speaker series, symposium, or similar event focused on sustainability during the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
St. Francis Feast and Learn: a sustainability round table teach-in and locally sourced meal inspired by the work of St. Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si.
https://www.loyola.edu/department/sustainability/about/resources/st-francis
Earth as it Is: Ethics and Environment, a lecture by Corey D.B. Walker, Ph.D., Professor of the Humanities with a joint appointment in the Department of English and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program at Wake Forest University. Lecture description: We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, 'too late.' Martin Luther King, Jr.'s bracing words from his 1967 "A Time to Break Silence " speech delivered at the Riverside Church in New York underscore the immediate and urgent need to create a just and sustainable world. Today, we face an existential threat to the very future of humanity as a result of human-induced climate change. This existential threat to human life on the planet forces us to confront the necessity for deliberate and committed action to create new forms of sustainable human community. This lecture calls for a broad conception of environmental ethics as a critical and necessary response to our contemporary climate crisis. By revisiting King's ideal of "beloved community," the lecture articulates an ethical framework that supports the urgent call to create a transformed and livable world.
https://www.loyola.edu/department/messina/calendar#November
Building a Better World Through Business: an annual series of events designed to celebrate the good that business does for society as it works to transform the world through sustainable economic and social development. All events are open to Loyola students, faculty, staff, alumni, the Baltimore community, and friends of the University.
https://www.loyola.edu/news/2021/0127-bbwtb
Evergreen Fest: Occurring on the Friday of the week of Earth Day (Earth Week), student groups, environmental organizations students are interning for, local environmental organizations, and more set up tables that provide both information and activities for students to celebrate Earth Day. This tabling occurs in close proximity to our Earth Week Teach-In, where Loyola community members and faculty give talks on various topics pertaining to sustainability. These talks occur in hour intervals and run from 9am-3pm.
https://www.loyola.edu/department/sustainability/programs-initiatives/earth-week
The Bunting Peace and Justice Speaker Series (2021-2022 Academic Year) was a series of seminars that hosts speakers and events that contribute to raising awareness about peace and justice issues. Within this speaker series, the university hosted Dr. Douglas Tallamy for his talk, "Nature's Best Hope," which highlights the differences we are all capable of making regarding biodiversity and discussing its importance to the climate crisis.
https://www.loyola.edu/academics/peace-and-justice/speakers-events/past
Loyola College of Arts and Sciences Grand Seminar (2022-2023 Academic Year): Loyola hosted Dr. Kartik Chandran, professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University, for his talk, "The re-engineered 'waste' cycle: Pathways, protagonists, and processes." The seminar discussed the flaws and intricacies of the current model for sanitation and sewage treatment and how it can be made more sustainable through engineering. It also discussed how its current flaws can be detrimental and hazardous to people and the environment.
https://www.loyola.edu/loyola-college-arts-sciences/divisions/natural-applied-sciences/events/grand-seminar
Modern Masters Speaker Series: Loyola's Writing Department hosted a virtual lecture with Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer as part of their Modern Master Speaker Series. In her talk, Dr. Kimmerer discussed the inherent difficulty and importance of writing about nature and the climate crisis. Writing students were the intended audience.
https://www.loyola.edu/academics/writing/events/2022-2023/230220-kimmerer
Has the institution hosted a cultural arts event, installation, or performance focused on sustainability with the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
Throughout the past three years, Loyola's Julio Fine Arts Gallery has hosted many projects and exhibitions focused on sustainability, including, but not limited to, Sentient River by Billy Friebele.
https://www.julioartgallery.com/sentient-river
Two pieces of sustainability-focused artwork at the "Familiar Strangers" Installation:
https://www.julioartgallery.com/familiar-strangers-hannah
https://www.julioartgallery.com/familiar-strangers-tomas
To celebrate Earth Week 2023, a group of students enrolled in a Public Art course worked on a sustainability-focused art installation. One part of their project was a paint-by-number mural open to the Loyola Community. Students would table on campus throughout Earth Week with their mural and get students to sign our Laudato Si Pledge. After learning about what the pledge entails and signing, students, faculty, staff, and administrators could paint a numbered box within the mural the corresponding color. The final product illustrated a butterfly perching on some flowers native to Maryland. The work is now displayed outdoors on our campus.
More information about the Laudato Si Pledge can be found here:
https://www.loyola.edu/department/sustainability/laudato-si-commitment
Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
Outdoor Adventure Experience (OAE) is run through Loyola's Department of Recreation and Wellness. OAE offers weekend trips, camping equipment rentals, and team-building opportunities. Types of trips include camping, sea kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, climbing, and canoeing. OAE leaders are highly-trained and capable students who receive over 500 hours of training per year. Trips are open to all undergraduate students.
https://www.loyola.edu/department/recreation-wellness/outdoor/oae
https://www.loyola.edu/department/recreation-wellness/outdoor
Outdoor Adventure Pre-Fall: Run by OAE leaders, incoming first years can sign up to participate in a 5 day, 4 night outdoor program where they will be either backpacking, canoeing, rock climbing, sea kayaking, or stand up paddle boarding, Each group also engages in casual and facilitated conversations, plays team-building games, and reflects on the days events. Students are placed into groups of 8-12, providing incoming students with many new friends as they enter their college experience. No outdoor adventure experience is necessary to sign up.
https://www.loyola.edu/department/recreation-wellness/outdoor/pre-fall
Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
For the 2023-2024 academic year, Loyola University Maryland selected "What the Eyes Don't See" by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha as its common text--a book about environmental justice and the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. All members of the Class of 2027 received a copy of the book at their Summer Orientation. Related programming surrounding themes of the book occurs throughout the academic year, including tours of Baltimore that highlight areas experiencing environmental injustice, relevant documentary screenings, panel events, and a talk from the author on Loyola's campus.
https://www.loyola.edu/department/messina/common-text
Fall Semester 2023 Programming: https://www.loyola.edu/department/messina/common-text/events
Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
Loyola University Maryland offers multiple (4) paid positions that relate to sustainability (2 work-study positions, and 2 non-work-study positions). Loyola's Office of Sustainability accepts multiple Sustainability interns each academic year. Loyola's Campus Ministry Office also has a paid Sustainability Intern. Finally, our Office for Community, Service, and Justice (CCSJ) offers a paid Sustainability Intern position as well.
The Office of Sustainability also offers employment to 10-15 students as Campaign Assistants in our annual Good Stuff Campaign. The Good Stuff Campaign provides students with an opportunity to live out Loyola’s mission by donating their clothing, dishes, small appliances, and unopened food to local organizations in need. The campaign takes place during the Spring semester move-out period, which overlaps with the final exam period for that semester. Students assist the Office of Sustainability in sorting, transporting, and managing student donations. This is a paid position.
Loyola Office of Sustainability Team:
https://www.loyola.edu/department/sustainability/about/team
Campus Ministry:
https://www.loyola.edu/department/campus-ministry/about/join-our-team/position-descriptions
CCSJ (Sustainability Intern position description can be found in document on bottom of page):
https://www.loyola.edu/department/ccsj/get-involved/leadership/student-employment/position-descriptions
On the Good Stuff Campaign:
https://www.loyola.edu/department/sustainability/programs-initiatives/good-stuff-campaign
Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.