Each year at EMU, the university spotlights one of its four core values. The academic school year of 2025-2026 is our ‘Year of Environmental Sustainability.’ What does this actually mean? 

Through attending each semester’s opening convocation and the MLK Day events, you have probably heard the word ‘sustainability’ over and over. EMU has seemingly put a lot of energy into having an education that celebrates environmental sustainability, but what is EMU actually doing to promote sustainability on campus?

Here is a letter recently sent by students to the administration that provides some important background information:

“In EMU’s Mission, Vision, Values Statement, environmental sustainability is named as one of the core values through which our institution pursues peace. EMU has a history of students advocating for environmentally conscious initiatives, including student-led campus beautification projects in the 1920s, recycling initiatives in the 1970s, and student research that influenced the decision to build LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) dormitories in 2007. In more recent years, sustainability efforts on campus have continued to be championed by clubs like Earthkeepers and SFI (now SEEDS, combined), who run on-campus gardens; by work-study students who transport dining-hall scraps to the on-campus compost pile; and by student leaders who pushed for a firm re-commitment to sustainability from EMU administration in 2021. During the presidency of Loren Swartzendruber from 2004 to 2016, sustainability was an active commitment, demonstrated by the signing of a document titled ‘Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action.’ Following this commitment, the Creation Care Council was established. Among other student groups on campus, they pushed EMU to install solar panels, regulate energy use in the Campus Center, and ensure all new buildings were LEED-certified. 

EMU’s website advertises sustainable actions on campus, which are no longer reflective of daily operations, including that ‘student workers and volunteers transport 300-500 pounds of dining hall scraps several times a week….’ At one time, EMU prioritized sustainable management of food waste. In recent years, no dining hall food has been composted. Only recently was a student hired to take care of compost in Parkwoods and Hillside, after HR delays that led to an unsanitary buildup of food waste. Additionally, recycling with local plants is advertised on EMU’s website as an important campus practice, while presently, no recyclables are being collected besides cardboard. 

For many years, EMU demonstrated a positive commitment to its core value of environmental sustainability. In 2010, a sustainability coordinator, Jonathan Lantz-Trissel, was hired, who promoted several sustainable initiatives. One example was the development of EMU’s first Climate Action Plan and reducing the university’s nitrogen footprint. However, after he left the role in 2017, the position was left vacant. In 2023, EMU hired another Sustainability Coordinator (Andrea Troyer) after pressure from students who wanted to see greater sustainability outcomes on campus. According to EMU’s website, ‘the Sustainability Coordinator is the contact person for events, projects, and initiatives, and collaborates with various entities on and off campus around sustainability efforts.’ However, attempts to fulfill these responsibilities were made difficult by insufficient funding and administrative support. The quantity of projects designated to this role exceeded the capacity of the contracted 20-hour part-time position. Since the Sustainability Coordinator left her position at EMU, the role has remained vacant, and sustainability initiatives on campus have been in disarray without sustained leadership. This has forced students to pick up the slack without administrative support. 

There is an impression among students that EMU has a history of relying on student initiatives to reflect the values it claims as integral to the institution, while not providing sufficient institutional resources to support those initiatives. We understand EMU is in a challenging financial state and is limited in its capacity to distribute funding. However, the institutional commitment to sustainability must be backed up with institutional resources.”

Conveniently putting a smaller emphasis on the environment, EMU has claimed this year is also about holistic or institutional sustainability. This type of sustainability is important and necessary, but should not be used as a cover-up for not performing the actions the university says it does. Considering that environmental sustainability is one of EMU’s core values, the students expect the university to prioritize this in its practices and structures.