Leadership

Sustain Leaders work diligently on "back-of-house" or institution-facing projects that, while not always sexy work, are decidedly moving the campus toward Carbon Neutrality by 2030. The program is designed to enhance students' involvement in climate action through diverse projects that address critical university and community needs, while simultaneously cultivating skillsets that will help them succeed in future careers and grow in leadership. Through their hands-on involvement, from start to finish, each project has the opportunity to positively, and continually, impact Sewanee for a more sustainable tomorrow.

Environmental Residents are responsible for organizing peer-facing programs, experiences, or opportunities that embody climate action practices or activism. These students adopt climate action practices in their own lives, are committed to learning more about climate action, and serve as mentors, leaders, or activists to engage and spark action in their peers or on campus. 

Committee members serve in an advisory capacity to Sustain Leaders. Due to the diversity of projects taken on by students in the program and the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability, it is imperative to include experts, in a wide range of areas, committed to advancing campus sustainability initiatives.

We provide mentorship, project development, and guidance throughout the school year. This support system allows students to not only thrive, but projects to be successful. 

We acknowledge that some of the past and present rhetoric and practices of the environmental movement have included colonial and white supremacist ideas. Additionally, climate change, pollution, resource extraction, biodiversity loss and other such exploitation disproportionately impacts BIPOC in this country and around the world.

We work to identify and elevate the voices, concerns and experiences of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) students, researchers, activists, artists, and community members in order to clarify and examine environmental justice issues, assess the Sewanee community and our environmental programming through this lens, and to formulate strategies to address and improve those issues and programs.