Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
College students are a huge force driving a lot of action on climate change. At Creighton, our values add another layer to this. We are called to care for our common home and for each other.
Sustainable Creighton
This month, the University will unveil the Sustainable Creighton Initiative, a comprehensive action plan to foster and further a culture of sustainability on campus.
Details will be announced at an Earth Month event on Tuesday, April 26, starting at 7 p.m. CT in the Harper Center, Hixson-Lied Auditorium.
The plan was a University-wide effort led by the Climate Change Task Force, in collaboration with the Sustainability Governance Committee and the Office of Sustainability Programs.
Want to support Creighton's efforts? You can make a gift to the Office of Sustainability here.
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An outlet for change
By Micah Mertes
Creighton students recently competed in a March Madness-style tournament. Though these games wouldn’t be played on any court but in dorm rooms across campus, with every lightbulb and electrical outlet clearing a potential path to victory.
The name of the game was Energy Madness. For one month, students in all residence halls competed to see which dorm could conserve the most energy (compared to a four-year average).
For the players, conserving energy meant doing a few simple things: unplugging appliances they weren’t using, utilizing natural light, not leaving the fridge door open, washing clothes on a cold setting, using the stairs instead of the elevator, turning out the lights when they left their room.
TVs throughout campus showed the energy savings of each dorm, with “scores” updated every five seconds over seven games and three rounds. (The contests were determined by the percentage of energy savings to account for the different sizes of each dorm.)
In the end, Davis Hall won, McGloin scored runner-up and the residence halls reduced electricity consumption by more than 11% overall.
Energy Madness was the brainchild of Alex Schultz, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and president of the Green Jays, a student organization with the mission of increasing awareness and activism around sustainability issues.
“College students are a huge force driving a lot of action on climate change,” she says. “At Creighton, our values add another layer to this. We are called to care for our common home and for each other.”
Schultz’s project was the first to be funded by the Creighton Sustainability Student Action Fund, an initiative started with the help of 2021 Giving Day donors that allows students to access the financial support to bring their bold ideas to life.
Every aspect of the fund is student-led. Students think up the ideas. Students write up the applications. Students lead the committee that determines which projects get funded.
All approved projects contribute to sustainability holistically, with priority given to those incorporating environmental justice themes.
(Students interested in applying to the Creighton Sustainability Student Action Fund can learn more at the Sustainable Creighton site.)
The Action Fund was launched last year by Kailen Wong, BSEMS'21, and Gabby Baker, Class of 2023. When donors support the fund, they say, “it not only empowers students; it not only invests in climate-conscious projects on campus and in the surrounding community. It starts the process of creating a more sustainable future overall.”
Nick McCreary, director of Sustainability Programs, says the fund is a perfect continuation of environmental action at Creighton. The fund, the creation of the Office of Sustainability in 2017, every step that got the University to this point — they’ve all been the result of a group of passionate faculty, staff and students taking the lead. Especially students.
This has been true in everything from Creighton’s push toward carbon neutrality to the recent success of its composting program. In all efforts, students are at the tip of the spear.
“When students show initiative and passion, I'll drop everything to say, ‘All right, let's make your idea a reality,’” McCreary says.
He also helps them work through the many realities potentially obstructing their vision. Applying for funding, working with divisions across campus, anticipating roadblocks — these serve as priceless practical experience for students hoping to enact change on any scale.
One student, for instance, pitched the idea of a rooftop garden on campus. OK, McCreary tells them, “What questions do you need to ask before you translate that idea into a project proposal? Who do you need to work with? Which, if any, campus rooftops can handle the weight of that much soil?”
Working through such challenges at Creighton is, of course, a microcosm for creating change in the larger world. It’s also, McCreary says, an excellent way to put our Jesuit values into action.
“A huge part of Creighton’s mission is caring for those less privileged than us,” he says. “We’re challenged to think about how our decisions impact others. Focusing on sustainability is a great way to be a just, caring person. It’s not the only way, but it does cover a lot.”
The Office of Sustainability hopes for Energy Madness to become an annual Creighton event, ideally taking place near the start of every academic year (and instilling good conservation habits for freshmen as early as possible).
“I’m excited for more projects to come out of the Student Action Fund,” says Alex Schultz, “because each one will reinforce a campus culture of sustainability. These projects also hopefully spark a mindfulness that the little decisions we make every day can add up to a big difference.”
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Want to support more projects like Schultz's? You can make a gift of any size to the Office of Sustainability here.
