Conversations

56 Pages·2016·8.75 MB·English

by  Pauline Heaney

Conversations
FALL 2016 | NUMBER 50
On Jesuit Higher Education
Laudato Si’
Responsibility|Conservation |Sustainability
FALL 2016 Conversations
NUMBER 50
Members of the
On Jesuit Higher Education
National Seminar on
Jesuit Higher Education
Heidi Barker
Regis University
LAUDATO SI’, CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME
Mark G. Bosco, S.J.
Loyola University Chicago
Patrick J. Howell, S.J.
Seattle University
Timothy P. Kesicki, S.J.
President, Jesuit Conference
ex officio
James McCartin
Fordham University
Molly Pepper
Gonzaga University
34
Jennifer Rinella
Rockhurst University
Viriditas: Finding God
Stephen C. Rowntree, S.J.
Holy Name of Jesus Church, in All Things
New Orleans
Julie Rubio
St. Louis University
Edward W. Schmidt, S.J.
AmericaMagazine
Michael Serazio
Boston College
Michael Sheeran, S.J.
President, AJCU FEATURES
ex officio
2 On Care for Our Common Home, Elizabeth Groppe
Jessica Wrobleski
Wheeling Jesuit University 7 Natura Revelata, Catherine Kleier
Patrick J. Howell, S.J., chair
10 Uniquely Suited to Tackle the Environmental Crisis, Nancy Tuchman
Stephen C. Rowntree, S.J., sec.
Edward W. Schmidt, S.J., editor 14 Connecting Streams across Campus, Jo Yarrington, Lori Jones, and Pat Poli
Conversationsis published by the 18 Between a Rock and a Coal Mine, Jessica Wrobleski
National Seminar on Jesuit Higher
Education, which is jointly sponsored 21 Shame and the Signs of Hope, Mike Murphy
by the Jesuit Conference Board and
the Board of the Association of 23 Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor, Daniel R. DiLeo
Jesuit Colleges and Universities.
25 Hopkins and Francis on the State of the World, Paul Mariani
The opinions stated herein are those
of the authors and not necessarily 30 River of Recyclables, Mary Ellen Wade
those of the JC or the AJCU.
Comments and inquiries may be 36 A Theologian Looks at “Laudato Si’”
addressed to the editor of
Conversations An Interview with Elizabeth Johnson, C.S.J, by James P. McCartin
Edward W. Schmidt, S.J.
America Magazine
46 How Loyola Undergraduates Welcomed Undocumented Students,
106 W. 56th Street
New York, NY 10019 Flavio Bravo and Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz
phone: [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
For information about BOOK REVIEWS
subscriptions to Conversations:
Stephen C. Rowntree, S.J. 48 The Age of Sustainable Development, by Jeffrey Sachs
Secretary to the National Seminar
49 American Jesuits and the World, by John T. McGreevy
on Jesuit Higher Education
Holy Name of Jesus Parish, 51 Democracy, Culture, Catholicism, by Michael Schuck and John Crowley-Buck, eds.
New Orleans
1575 Calhoun Street
New Orleans, LA 70118
40 AN HISTORICAL MOMENT: Spring Hill College, by Gentry Holbert
Phone: [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
52 TEACHING TO MISSION:Bringing Mission to the Classroom, by Molly Pepper
Conversationsback issues are
available online at STUDENT VOICES 8, 17, 27, 28, 32, 47
http://conversationsmagazine.org
Design and layout by ALUMNI VIEW 29, 33
Pauline Heaney.
Printed by Peacock Communications,
Lincoln Park, N.J.
Front Cover: Photograph of the Northern Lights over Grotfjord near Tromso, Norway. See page 42.
© Dr. William Gutsch.
FROM THE EDITOR
Caring for Our Common Home – We’re Doing Well
The work ofour schools is a worthy tribute to the insights want to do something they see as vitally important. Fac-
and challenges of Pope Francis in his encyclical “Laudato ulty and administrators constantly look for new ways to
Si’: On Care for Our Common Home,” which has cast care build a new project, eliminate waste, save energy. We
for the environment as a spiritual mandate and a justice present these stories in longer pieces, in reflections or re-
issue. Sharing the stories we offer here is a fitting way to ports from students and alumni, and in art. A lot of peo-
celebrate the first anniversary of its publication. ple are making a great difference.
Back in the 1960s, a Jesuit friend and I were in gradu- This issue of Conversationsalso includes two new
ate school at Georgetown. Marty was studying biology; I short features. One is “Where We Come From,” a short
was working in linguistics. One day Marty said that he history of one of the 28 schools. We will work our way
thought he would concentrate on ecology. Ecology– the through all 28, but with two issues a year that will take
word was new to me. My linguistic interest quickly got some time. We also have a teacher’s reflections in “Teach-
engaged.Ecohad to do with the home, as economyhad to ing the Mission”; our first column in this series is by
do with running a household. And ecumenicalhad to do Conversations seminar member Molly Pepper of Gonzaga.
with the whole inhabited world, where people live, where A letter in this issue from Pat Howell, the chair of the
they build their homes. That’s a stretch, but it is where the Conversationsseminar, explains other innovations.
word comes from. Other coinages followed, like ecosystem A great part of the enjoyment of being part of Conver-
and eco-friendly. sationsis welcoming new members to the seminar. This
Ecology was a recently emerging study, not the same season we welcome Clint Springer, a professor of biology
as environmentalism but closely associated with it. The at St. Joseph’s University. A native of West Virginia, Clint
first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970. Marty explained has a strong interest in Appalachia and knows Catholic
that ecology concerned not just this animal or that, this social teaching on the exploitation of that region. He has
plant family or another. Ecology looks at how living done specialized research on climate change.
things relate to each other, how plants and animals affect That enjoyment comes at the cost of saying farewell.
each other, one sheltering another, one eating another, This year we say farewell to Jim McCartin, theology pro-
two species whose survival depends on each other. fessor and director of the Fordham Center on Religion
When humans enter the picture, they don’t always and Culture, who has faithfully finished his three years
maintain the balance that nature builds. With a drive to on the seminar. We will miss Jim’s insights and good
acquire more than they need, to store up now to allow humor; fortunately he works not far away and I am sure
leisure later, they often upset that balance. But didn’t God I’ll run into Jim from time to time.
tell us to have dominion over all the other living crea- Higher education has many issues to deal with, as
tures? It’s right there in the first chapter of the Bible. But successive numbers of Conversationsshow. A special sec-
God called us not to dominion, which leads to exploita- tion in The New York Timeson June 23 studied a range of
tion, but rather to stewardship. God charged us to watch these issues, highlighting a lead article by Frank Bruni,
over creation, to protect it, to use it wisely. “Student, or Customer?” Other issues included free
Our 28 Jesuit colleges and universities make signifi- speech, food and costs, sexual assault, and diversity. The
cant contributions to the movement to protect the earth next Conversationswill address some of these issues as
that has evolved in recent decades. The stories in these “Difficult Conversations.” For now, we focus on how our
pages witness an amazing variety of approaches to envi- schools are addressing the need to care for our common
ronmental questions, all designed to get something done. home. We can always do more, of course, but that is no
University communities seem not to need much encour- reason not to recognize the immense good that we do.
agement to face the causes and the effects of environmen-
tal damage – destruction of the land, extinction of species, Edward W. Schmidt, S.J., editor
global warming. Students take the need for granted and
1
The springs ofSolsonès press opened; though he did not see
up from under the range of any vision, he understood and
Catalonia’s Busa mountains. knew many things, both spiri-
Seasonally, their flow is so tual things and matters of
strong that they generate faith and learning, and this
magnificent waterfalls that was with so great an enlight-
cascade over rocks cloaked in enment that everything
emerald green moss, moisten- seemed new to him. It was as if
ing the air with their mist. he were a new man with a new
These are the headwaters of intellect.” The Social Justice
the Cardoner River that cuts and Ecology Secretariat of the
its path through the Spanish Society of Jesus’ 2011 special
village of Manresa on its way report on ecology, Healing a
to join its waters to those of Broken World, relates Ignatius’
the Llobregat. experience at the Cardoner to
Ignatius of Loyola spent his theological conviction that
almost a year in Manresa in the love of the triune God per-
1522. He entered the village meates all of creation and that
on foot after relinquishing his we are to “find God in all
nobleman’s garments and things” (No. 49).
warrior sword in a night-long In 1965, centuries after Ig-
On Care
vigil before the Black natius’ transformative experi-
Madonna at the Benedictine ence, studies of the Cardoner
Monastery at Montserrat. It found no trace of the life
for Our
was in Manresa that he spent forms common in healthy
long hours of prayer and river waters. Test samples re-
penance in a cave, opening vealed only organisms whose
Common
himself to a wisdom that presence is indicative of high
would guide the remainder of levels of water pollution. The
his remarkable life and inspire contamination of the river, ex-
Home
the composition of the Spiri- plains Josep Lluís Iriberri, S.J.,
tual Exercises. One day, as he a professor at Barcelona’s Uni-
was walking to a church a versitat Ramon Llull, origi-
mile’s distance from Manresa nates in the region’s salt and
along a road that followed the potassium mines and the dis-
A Conversation
Cardoner, he sat upon the charges of the cities through
among Creatures ground and faced the swiftly which the river passes. Across
flowing water. the globe today, the rivers that
“While he was seated are the aqueous arteries and
By Elizabeth Groppe there,” Ignatius recounted, veins of the planet are suffer-
telling the story of his own pil- ing not only from industrial
grimage to a fellow Jesuit as if and agricultural pollution but
he were narrating the life of a also from drought, deluge,
different person, “the eyes of and the diversion of their wa-
his understanding began to be ters for human purposes.
2 CONVERSATIONS ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION
And today, the first Jesuit pope in the history of the fully crafted chapters. Chapter One is entitled “What
Catholic Church has issued the first expressly ecologi- Is Happening to Our Common Home” and opens the
cal encyclical, “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common encyclical with a summary of the travail of creation
Home.” Like Pope John XXIII’s “Pacem in Terris,” (Rom 8:22).
which was promulgated in the midst of the Cold War,
Pope Francis’ historic letter is addressed not only to Broken Boundaries
Roman Catholics but to all women and men of good and Relationships
will. Unique among papal encyclicals, it gives expres-
sion not only to human voices but also to Brother Sun,
A domestic household maintains its health in part
Sister Water, and all creatures of the cosmos. In conti-
through the establishment of boundaries and limits. A
nuity with the teaching of Pope John Paul II and Pope
financial budget sets a limit on expenditures on
Benedict XVI as well as regional episcopal conferences
monthly rent or mortgage with the intention of reserv-
from across the globe, the encyclical invites us to an
ing funds for food, clothing, medicine, and other neces-
ecological conversion. It begins with words of praise
sities. A fence around a back yard sets the boundaries of
(“Laudato Si’, mi’ Signore”) and is composed of six care-
a protected play area for children. Limits on the social
Left: The Spiritual Journey of St. Ignatius Loyola: Image 2 of 5: “Ignatius composing Spiritual Exercises at Manresa, overlooking River
Cardoner.” Dora Niklov Bittau. Copyright Seattle University. Above: River Cardoner today, photo courtesy of the Jesuit Curia in Rome.
3
ITEMS FROM ROME
A Major Jesuit
Meeting
Beginning on October 2,Jesuit rep-
resentatives from all over the world
will meet in Rome for General Con-
gregation 36. Their major agenda
item will be to accept the resignation
of Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, the Superior
General, and then to elect his succes-
sor. Father Nicolás officially convoked
this meeting on Dec. 8, 2014.
A general congregation is rare
in the Society of Jesus. If the supe-
rior general dies in office, one must
The view of the dome of St. Peter’s from the Jesuit Curia's roof.
be convoked to elect his successor.
If the superior general wants to re- the state of the Society of Jesus be more concerned with global is-
tire, the congregation must give its today. Other groups will propose sues rather than with specifics. And
approval. topics for consideration. they would generally support the
After the election of a new gen- Throughout its history, the great work being done in so many
eral, the delegates consider “matters order has considered education to academic settings.
of greater moment” in the life of the be a crucial ministry, and the
order. A committee will have met to schools have drawn attention from More information is available at
compose a document describing general congregations. They would www.jesuits.org.
An Invitation to Make a Difference
Fr. Adolfo Nicolás,the Superior sion, research, and advocacy. It is this is beyond us, that we are in-
General of the Jesuits, wrote a letter meant not only for Jesuits but also significant players, “too small or
in April introducing a new document for individual colleagues in min- weak to make a difference.”
prepared by a group of economists istry, concerned groups, and institu- As this issue of Conversations
and theologians from all over the tions as a whole. shows, colleges and universities are
world; overseeing the work were Father Nicolás’s letter invites Je- capable of finding solutions to prob-
Michael Garanzini, S.J., and Patxi Ál- suit institutions to develop a lems that beset our world; working
varez, S.J., the Jesuit secretaries for methodology to work on the docu- together we can do much more.
higher education and for social jus- ment with a special focus on local The full text of the document is
tice and ecology respectively. situations, bringing intellectual and available at
The document reflects the spiritual light to these concerns. He http://www.sjweb.info/sjs/PJ/index.
close connection between ecologi- urges all to examine closely the per- cfm?PubTextId=15696. Or a search
cal concerns and other issues of sonal, communal, and institutional using the terms “promotio iustitiae
economic and social justice. The responses we are capable of and to 121” will also access the document.
purpose is meant to spur discus- avoid the temptation to believe that
4 CONVERSATIONS ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION
activities of adolescents are instituted by parents will have adverse consequences. According to the
with the intention of supporting youth in gradu- authors of “Planetary Boundaries,” humanity has
ally developing a mature freedom. already overstepped four of the nine boundaries of
The boundaries of our familial households the life systems that make the planet a place that
exist within a vast web of planetary relationships humans can call home.
to which we denizens of industrial western civi-
lization have been largely unattentive. We have Exclamations of Wonder
taken for granted the weather patterns of the last
10,000 years that have been so hospitable to the de-
In the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius meditates on his
velopment of settled agricultural civilizations, the
own sinfulness and voices “exclamations of wonder,
stability of the polar ice caps, the shorelines of the
with intense feeling, as I reflect on the whole range
oceans, the fertility of the soil, and the fecundity of
of created beings … the heavens, the sun, the moon,
the seas. These dimensions of our biosphere, how-
the stars and the elements, the fruits, the birds, the
ever, are contingent not only on the creative provi-
fishes, and the animals … how ever have they let
dence of God, but also on the complex interplay of
me live and kept me alive!” The earth’s flora and
a multiplicity of biogeochemical relationships.
fauna have long endured our ecological transgres-
A helpful synthesis of the scientific research
sions. Today, however, we are pushing them across
that shapes the context of “Laudato Si’” can be
their limits of resilience. With power equivalent to
found in the publications of an international team
that of an asteroid crashing into the earth’s surface,
of 18 scientists who have collaborated to identify
humanity is precipitating the sixth mass extinction
and monitor the life systems that have made the
of species in Earth’s history, and climate change is
Earth’s biosphere so hospitable to our species. In
driving earth systems into a state fundamentally
the article “Planetary Boundaries: A Safe Operat-
different than that which our own species has en-
ing Space for Humanity” published in the journal
joyed in all of our 200,000 years of existence.
Sciencein 2009 and then updated in 2015, Will Stef-
“Doomsday predictions,” Pope Francis writes
fen and colleagues explain that our activity is
in “Laudato Si’,” “can no longer be met with irony
pressing against or transgressing the limits to a
or disdain” (No. 161). The science that informs the
planet hospitable to our species in nine ways: (1)
encyclical supports this dire prognosis. Yet the
destabilization of the climate; (2) loss of biodiver-
work of the church is not simply to reiterate the
sity and biospheric integrity; (3) depletion of
science but to “protect mankind from self-destruc-
stratospheric ozone; (4) acidification of the ocean;
tion” (No. 79). To this end, the encyclical’s second
(5) disruption of the phosphorus and nitrogen cy-
chapter, “The Gospel of Creation,” offers a species
cles; (6) deforestation and other forms of land sys-
that has transgressed planetary limits with
tem degradation; (7) freshwater depletion; (8) the
Promethean presumption a vision of the Earth as
release into the atmosphere of aerosals, i.e. micro-
the work of a Creator who loves and cares for
scopic particles such as soot that affect the climate
every single creature. “The best way to restore men
and living organisms; and (9) the introduction into
and women to their rightful place, putting an end
the biosphere of novel entities, including organic
to their claim to absolute dominion over the earth,
pollutants, radioactive materials, nanomaterials,
is to speak once more of the figure of a Father who
and micro-plastics.
creates and who alone owns the world” (No. 75).
Just as overspending a household’s financial
This is a loving God who grants creatures their
budget or failing to limit the activity of a toddler
own autonomy and yet simultaneously remains
can lead to homelessness or harm, so too overstep-
present to us, such that cosmic history is a drama
ping or ignoring the boundaries of the systems that
of the interplay of divine grace and creaturely free-
have made the Earth habitable for Homo sapiens
dom. Francis invites us to see creation “with the
5
gaze of Jesus” as a realm of laws and equilibriums A New Conversation
that must be respected, a world that manifests di-
vine wisdom and inspires awe and praise.
“Laudato Si’” invites Jesuit universities to an ur-
“The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis,”
gent and potentially transformative conversation.
the encyclical’s third chapter, identifies the heart
Pope Francis traces the roots of our social and eco-
of the crisis as our pursuit of an ideal of progress
logical crisis to a cultural void of ultimate purpose
that is lacking an ultimate purpose, direction, or
that has left us to manage our common home with
meaning. Francis appreciates the tremendous con-
a one-dimensional technoscience. This techno-
tribution of modern science and technology to the
science is incapable on its own of setting us on a
improvement of the quality of human life. Our
new course. Surely, we need more than ever the
technological power, however, has grown at a
knowledge that science generates and new forms
pace that has exceeded our growth in wisdom and
of technology that can support new forms of
responsibility. In this context, technoscience has
human civilization. But technoscience alone can-
often become a one-dimensional instrument of
not produce a noble and courageous political cul-
control serving a narrow understanding of self-in-
ture. On its own, it cannot overcome the reductive
terest. In the void of meaning that results, those of
epistemologies of modernity and the fragmenta-
us who are privileged fill the emptiness of our
tion of the disciplines of the academy. It cannot
lives with consumer goods and digital virtual real-
generate the ecological economics that Francis en-
ity, while the impoverished struggle to survive
visions nor serve the same ends as theology and
amidst the wastelands and rubble of a globalized
spirituality. The surge in our technological power
industrial economy.
enabled by modern science, Francis laments, has
Chapter Four’s reflections on “Integral Ecol-
not been accompanied by a growth in wisdom,
ogy” highlight humanity’s unique place in God’s
culture, and ethics.
creation but emphasize that humanity is a part of
The Jesuit university is a place of conversation
nature, not its master. The natural and social
where the integration of science, economics,
spheres are inseparable, and ecological degrada-
ethics, philosophy, history, anthropology, art, liter-
tion and social disintegration have a common
ature, music, and theology that Francis envisions
root. Francis invites us to commit ourselves to the
might actually occur. Within a community en-
common good of the human family and all crea-
gaged in such a collaborative search for wisdom,
tures, to realize our interconnectedness, to over-
we can potentially become, like Ignatius on the
come the inequities of our world, and to “feel the
banks of the Cardoner, new men and women with
desertification of the soil almost as a physical ail-
“a new intellect.” The exercise of this Ignatian in-
ment, and the extinction of a species as a painful
tellect is inseparable from action on behalf of the
disfigurement” (No. 89). Chapter Five, “Lines of
suffering members of the human family and all
Approach and Action,” calls for local initiatives,
creatures in our common home, for, the Exercises
the articulation of global norms and strengthening
instruct us, “Love ought to find expression in
of international institutions, and the practice of a
deeds more than in words.” These deeds include
healthy politics and true statecraft characterized
the work of those who installed purification sta-
by nobility, generosity, and courage. A final chap-
tions along the course of the Cardoner River in
ter on “Ecological Education and Spirituality” in-
1985. Now, Professor Iriberri testifies, one who
vites us to the contemplation of beauty, the
stands on the old bridge in Manresa beholds
practices of care and tenderness, the cultivation of
ducks and other birds feeding in their waters, a
ecological habits and virtues, and the joyful cele-
sign of a healthy river ecosystem. Laudato Si’, mi
bration of life in sublime communion with the tri-
Signore, per sor’Acqua, la quale è multo utile et humile
une God and all creatures. “God of love, show us
et pretiosa et casta.
our place in this world as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth… Praise be to
Elizabeth T. Groppe is an associate professor of theology
you!” (No. 246)
at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
6 CONVERSATIONS ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION
Natura Revelata
The importance
of nature in the
Jesuit University
Reflections on
Environmental Biology,
the Liberal Arts, and Laudato Si’
By Catherine Kleier
The observation andstudy of nature can be a useful path- This process of focus, attention, reverence, and devo-
way for engaging spirituality and understanding habits of tion is very much the pathway the liberal arts exalt within
the scholarly mind. These habits of attention to nature mir- the disciplines. Teaching this process not only helps stu-
ror the critical thinking skills so fundamental to the liberal dents in Jesuit universities to embrace union but may also
arts. In “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis asks us to privilege the help to model an approach to the life of the mind that we
Earth the way we privilege the poor. Developing a relation- wish to inspire in our students. The Latin verb revelare
ship with nature will help us all live out the pope’s call. The means: to unveil, uncover, lay bare; disclose, reveal. Al-
revelation that nature provides can give our lives meaning though the word revelmay not be the same root, the added
and help us to live more deeply in our own habitats. meaning of revel, or celebration, is equally appropriate to
In an America article in 2000 entitled, “How to Be Natura Revelata. Thinking about nature in this way, we can
Catholic in a Jesuit Context,” Howard Gray, S.J., asked, “Is also see a similarity to the process that all scholars engage
there an ecumenical process that is both deeply religious on their path to truths in their disciplines.
but genuinely acceptable to those of other beliefs or no for- In science, observations elucidate nature’s patterns. In
mally religious belief?” Then he outlines a Jesuit approach order to observe at all, though, one must focus, which is the
that first involves focus and then attention, reverence, and first part of Father Gray’s suggestion. Focusing our attention
devotion. Finding spiritual union implies that we must look requires discipline, but like anything that requires work, there
inward, but I propose that an outward focus on nature can is usually a payoff. With focus and observation comes the
also bring spiritual revelation. Natura Revelata, or nature re- recognition of a pattern. Such a recognition is a “eureka mo-
vealed, can be the ecumenical process to bring us to union. ment,” or a revelation. For scientists, this movement towards
7
the eureka moment may be a slow, plodding march, but usu- available to everyone. To study nature, to understand nature or
ally that slog is followed by a frenzied flow of thought and un- anything in the world, one can rely upon intuition, and one can
derstanding. I find nature a useful pathway for my students also focus one’s attention to make observation.
because it requires so little background knowledge. It’s a good Sometimes students will ask me how I knew what I
thing too that nature can be approachable without formal wanted to study. If we are introspective enough, we will un-
knowledge, because few people know anything about the derstand that we didn’t actually choose. More often, the sub-
natural history of where they live. Modern science views natu- ject matter chooses us. Like the eureka moment, there is a
ral history as archaic and many universities don’t even teach slow advance in observation, then some research, reading, ex-
natural history any more. perimentation, until there is some understanding. Possibly,
To illustrate my point about the paucity of natural history even answers are revealed, and this is thrilling. Before we have
knowledge, consider if you can answer the following: What realized it, we are in love. Like falling in love with a person, this
phase is the moon in tonight? What constellations are visible is not the sort of thing that happens overnight, but if you
in tonight’s night sky? Name five native birds that are resident study anything with enough perseverance, it reveals its mys-
year round. Name five native non-tree plants in your home. tery, and you begin to revel in your love. Nature provides an
Name five insects native to your home. easy gateway to observation and study because it is tangible
Natural history in our immediate physical place is the gate- and all around us.
way to Natura Revelata. Understanding and observing local I believe the study and love of nature has not been ex-
plants and animals can lead to the formation of patterns in the plicit in the Jesuit university. To be sure, “finding God in all
mind, which can be revelations and eureka moments, not just in things” certainly echoes an implication of God in nature. Yet,
science but also in faith and in emotional and physical aspects of focusing intentionally on nature provides a way of living that
life. Nature is no less a wonder for the nonbeliever as for the be- is indicative of “How ought we to live?” Nature forces us to
liever, and the moments and discernments nature provides are think outside of ourselves. There is much documentation that
Composting,
Food Waste,
and Trust
the Tap
By Isabella Kaser and
Jake Gilchrest Dudley
As active membersof the Sustain-
ability Committee at Regis, we cre-
ate programs that implement
sustainability practices. This aca- saw how much waste they con- tive strategy. Approved by the ad-
demic year we have worked with tributed. By the end of the week the ministration, student employees
our cafeteria vender to decrease the amount of waste decreased from 120 work with local businesses and Bon
amount of food waste. For a week to 80 pounds. Appetit (on campus) to compost.
during lunch, committee members Our committee also initiated Sustainability is also integrated
stood at the dish rack and asked two composting, work-study posi- into our Integrative Core classes. In
people to clear their plate into a tions, because having students lead one class entitled “Modeling Sus-
bucket, placed on a scale so they composting efforts is the most effec- tainability,” students created the
8 CONVERSATIONS ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION