DePaul has taken concrete steps to implement sustainability practices and mitigate its carbon footprint over the last 20 years. A newly designed website will now make these efforts easier to follow.
The
Sustainability at DePaul website is a one-stop shop for information about upcoming events, clubs, courses and news related to environmental justice. The
President's Sustainability Committee (PSC) and
Just DePaul spearheaded its development in collaboration with university-wide partners, including College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Humanities X, University Branding and Marketing, Information Services and user-testers.
As a Catholic, Vincentian university, DePaul is fully committed to the values described in Pope Francis’ Laudato Sí, in which he makes a passionate plea for climate action. We share the belief that we “must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
The President’s Sustainability Committee and Just DePaul, as well as the Student Government Association, will be key partners in developing a university climate action plan with the office of the President.
President’s Sustainability Committee
Formed in October 2021, the President’s Sustainability Committee is a group of dedicated faculty, students and staff representing nearly every college and division at DePaul. Through their work, they seek to implement sustainability across the curriculum, provide cross-department or college advising, offer incentives for course development in sustainability and help advance sustainability initiatives on campus.
“The PSC is a dynamic and dedicated group who understands the intrinsic link between sustainability and DePaul’s mission,” Barbara Willard, co-chair of the PSC, says. “While some are new to our sustainability efforts, others have a longstanding institutional commitment to promoting sustainability through curriculum, operations, research and engagement. We are privileged to have a new president who shares our deep passion for sustainability at DePaul and recognizes that our mission is at the heart of our collective endeavor.”
Just DePaul
The committee works closely with Just DePaul, an initiative that encourages network weaving to help connect resources, generate ideas and support potential projects related to sustainability.
“Just DePaul is committed to continuing our network weaving events and enriching our community through quarterly meetings on sustainability,” Rubén Álvarez Silva, director of Just DePaul, says. “More than ever, we want faculty, students, staff, community members and alumni to feel welcome. We want them to know they have a voice and can learn anything and everything they want about sustainability and its importance at our school.”
Interested in Sustainability at DePaul?
Students interested in DePaul’s sustainability efforts are
encouraged to apply to the Student Sustainabilitiy Committee (SCC). This committee is an independent group of diverse students with a passion for sustainability and social and environmental justice. The SCC will work alongside the Just DePaul team and the President’s Sustainability Committee to increase awareness around environmental issues, implement on-campus sustainability solutions and amplify student voices on these topics.