Andrea M. Webster, a graduate student in the environmental studies program at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF), is featured in this installment of the AASHE Bulletin Sustainability Student Diary series. She shares her “Next Steps,” created to guide efforts in the campus sustainability sector toward ensuring that all stakeholders are included in the decision-making process. AASHE welcomes questions and invites feedback on each Sustainability Student Diary entry. Submit diary entries of your own for consideration to bulletin@aashe.org.

As a student who plans to work in the campus sustainability field, I am studying diversity and social justice issues to further my own understanding of the subject matter and to help define an area of the sustainability field that remains unclear for many practitioners.

Most campus sustainability officers understand sustainability as having three interconnected foci – environmental, economic, and social; unfortunately, only the ecological component has been widely adopted. The economic piece has progressed in part, due to the business sector’s acknowledgement of sustainability within its realm. The social side, however, lacks clear definition and a widely understood connection to sustainability. While many campus sustainability officers will say that social factors are included in the definition of sustainability, few can say why or how.

To help arrive at a clear definition and understood connection, important questions need to be asked. To start, why should diversity be included in sustainability? Most, if not all, sustainability advocates would agree that the movement should not be a passing fad; it should be integrated into all decision-making processes and policy-setting agendas. A major goal of sustainability is to ensure that our actions will enable humanity to exist as long as possible. Humanity is made up of people of all colors, and we should include all of them when we teach and practice sustainability. How can we be sure that we are making the correct decisions if all stakeholders are not included in the decision-making process?

In my work with the campus sustainability sector, I plan to use the following “Next Steps” to guide my efforts.

Next Step #1: Equal Access to Sustainability Education

Many campuses have made high-level commitments to increase the sustainability of operations and education, but none have taken a stand to say: “We are committed to sustainability, and we are committed to enabling under-represented students to participate in what we’re doing.” AASHE advanced this effort by supporting the sustainability education of under-represented students through membership discounts to HBCUs and MSIs. Next, individual institutions should make commitments to encourage low income and racially diverse students to participate in sustainability courses and activities on campus.

Next Step #2: Providing Support to Under-represented Students on Campus

In addition to making sure that we openly invite a diverse student body to campus, we should likewise ensure that we are providing adequate resources to keep students on campus. This can be in the form of student organizations (e.g., a Community Pride group, Black Student Union, etc.); campus programming; making sure that all offices on campus are staffed in a similar manner to the diverse makeup of the student body; and preparing all campus members, especially faculty and staff, to be more comfortable dealing with and discussing LGBT, ability, race, class, and sexual orientation. Sustainability practitioners can work with existing diversity offices that are already familiar with these initiatives.

Next Step #3: Evaluating this Support and Making Changes

An important part of making any type of change on campus is evaluating that change. Campus climate surveys offer one method of assessment. Merely offering this survey, however, is not enough. Campuses need to assess the responses and make a plan to address the issues raised in the outcomes. AASHE’s STARS program offers credits for measuring campus climate and for using the results to shape policies on campus. This is certainly a step in the right direction.

In addition to the steps and suggestions listed above, as a future staff person, I plan to always remember that everyone has a different identity than my own. This understanding will help me to relate to others, to choose my words more carefully, and to know when a situation I am participating in or witnessing could be offensive to others.

There was an article published in The Chronicle of Higher Education in October 2010 that referred to both diversity and sustainability as fleeting and competing trends. The president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education wrote an appropriate response: “The combination of diversity and sustainability is not an either-or proposition but a both-and.” Sustainability is an umbrella movement that includes diversity, as well as environmental protection, economic stability, and other social issues.

We haven’t forgotten about diversity; we are revitalizing discussions and actions around it. Now we just need to spread the understanding of its purpose within sustainability initiatives and learn to include and apply it.