In between basketball games and egg hunts this past week, you may have noticed an annual occurrence: Everything turned green, seemingly overnight.
I find it hard not to link this profusion of pollen and photosynthesizing surfaces with another event last week, one slightly less noticeable.
It all started over a cup of coffee.
Amy Morsch, former president of Duke University Greening Initiative and a graduate student in the Nicholas School, and I, coffee drinker, met one morning last semester in Joe Van Gogh. We were there to discuss projects and campaigns, and the hurdles student groups face in marketing them to the Duke community. We wondered what the undergrad groups were working on, and if they felt like they were doing the same leg work year after year.
To answer that question, last Wednesday, the first ever Duke Student Environmental Leadership Summit was held in the Doris Duke Center at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Leaders from nearly 22 campus environmental groups were in attendance from all corners of the University. Attendees networked, met faculty and staff and discussed opportunities for collaboration. Maybe it wasn’t Copenhagen, but it was a summit.
Each student in the room represented a larger organization of students working on a diverse set of projects, in a unique population at Duke. If the idea here goes something along the lines of “it takes a village,” Duke has a lively village. Leaders in sustainability come from across campus, including graduate and undergraduate students; Law, Fuqua, Nicholas; staff representing recycling, purchasing, facilities, offsets and communication.
Opportunities abound to become more involved in campus groups that plan events and programs. For those not able to commit to a group, there are endless opportunities to participate. Maybe it’s joining a carpool, getting an office recycling bin, participating in a farm share or just turning off the lights when you leave a room.
And, the main theme that was echoed throughout the morning—students drive change at Duke.
The keynote speaker, Tavey Capps, Duke’s environmental sustainability coordinator, pointed out in her speech, that her position was created by a graduating senior who had been an active member of Environmental Alliance and wanted to continue the great projects started as an undergrad (and who wanted a job). That was in 2004.
Students also started Duke Recycles in 1989. Material could be dropped off at four locations around campus. Now housed in the Facilities Management department, Duke Recycles serves more than 180 locations on campus. Students still work there, but now it has a dedicated staff and director.
Students also initiated the Duke Bikes program, Eco-Olympics, Farmhand and many other programs you have heard of and recognize from your time on campus.
This comes as no surprise. Duke and institutions of higher education can be excellent breeding grounds for fresh ideas and experimentation, as well as a place for students to cut their teeth on projects at manageable scale. They are a crossroads where students, faculty and professionals can interact across disciplines.
Perhaps what makes Duke unique, then, is the real willingness of the administration and staff to listen, to be receptive of new ideas and to work with students, allowing them great freedom to shape the institution.
To borrow a mighty turn of phrase: At Duke it’s not always about what your university can do for you, it’s about what you can do for your university. With this, of course, comes great responsibility. So, fellow students, wield your influence wisely and with good judgment. Let us be good citizens of this community, and together we can leave behind more than just an academic legacy; we can leave behind a better, greener Duke than the one we all enrolled in.
After all, it is the season of green.
Liz Bloomhardt is a third-year Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering. Her column runs every other Thursday.
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