Northwestern University
EN-2: Student Orientation

Sustainability is integrated into many parts of Northwestern’s week-long student orientation program, Wildcat Welcome. Prior to orientation, sustainability is featured in the materials incoming families receive, including the magazine “March to the Arch.” sustainNU trains student peer advisors, who interact directly with new students, and residential assistants.

All students have access to an online green shopping list prior to arrival on campus. On move-in day, sustainNU coordinates a “sustainNU Crew” that helps families properly dispose of and recycle any waste, such as cardboard boxes.

Inside all residence halls, students find posters informing them about how to properly recycle on campus, as well as posters encouraging involvement in campus sustainability efforts. All new students are given reusable water bottles and encouraged to use these rather than purchasing bottled water. Water filling stations are provided at outdoor events during orientation.

Sustainability is also featured in informational fairs throughout the week, including events for undergraduate students, graduate students, and parents and families. In campus tours, students are shown different sustainability features of the campus, including our organic student-run garden.

Information about sustainability is integrated throughout Wildcat Welcome programming. The URL for new student orientation is http://www.northwestern.edu/orientation/incoming-students/wildcat-welcome/index.html.