Creating the Council
Letter from the President
November 29, 2004
Willamette University’s core values are deeply rooted in what one might call our “humanness.” This essential “humanness” is reflected, for instance, in the relatively small scale of our academic activities – activities that permit us to be attentive and vigilant to the particular needs of individual students. Willamette’s culture of community service and outreach is another example of how our educational mission reinforces an essential human virtue. And, of course, the value that we place on inter-disciplinary studies, especially on those that have a broad application to human life, manifest this core value.
During the last several months, I have been engaged in thoughtful conversations with faculty, students, Trustees and staff about Willamette’s future. I have been particularly concerned to identify academic initiatives that meet a three pronged test: (1) they represent values recognized widely as essential to our academic mission; (2) they cross disciplines as well as schools and colleges; and (3) they have the capacity to distinguish Willamette as well as make us distinctive, thereby enhancing academic excellence.
These conversations are on going, and they have, in very helpful ways, informed certain aspects of my vision of Willamette in the future.
I will have much more to say on the outcome of my conversations when I issue my president’s report in the spring.
In the meantime, I wish to report on an activity that has emerged as worthy of renewed University focus.
Sustainability
There is much support on our campus for sustainability – both as it is (or should be) practiced in many University activities, as well as an important aspect of our educational objectives.
I believe the Willamette community can agree that sustainability is at the center of what we do as an institution seeking to live by its profound motto, “Not unto ourselves alone are we born.” Whether we are encouraging our students to use their talents to improve the well being of the communities in which they live, or whether we are working to secure the financial soundness of this institution itself, we understand that the choices we make now affect the lives of present and future generations. This is the heart of a liberal education.
The time has come to begin a process of re-committing the Willamette community to sustainability in ways that will make Willamette a better place to work, study and live.
Sustainability extends beyond environmental to social and economic issues that affect our future. Considered within the context of civic engagement, sustainability is powerful, for it reaffirms a core University value, while creating opportunities for practical outcomes that benefit the surrounding community of which we are an essential part.
Anthony D. Cortese, former dean of environmental programs at Tufts University and commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, reminds us that now is the time to adopt a new human perspective on the world in which we live:
Higher education institutions bear a profound, moral responsibility to increase the awareness, knowledge, skills, and values needed to create a just and sustainable future. Higher education plays a crucial but often overlooked role in making this vision a reality... [because] it prepares most of the professionals who develop, lead, manage, teach, work in and influence society’s institutions...
(The Critical Role of Higher Education in Creating a Sustainable Future in Planning for Higher Education, March-May 2003, p. 15.)
I believe most of us in the Willamette University community recognize and support the role we can play in deepening our awareness and commitment to sustainability.
In order to ensure that sustainability is permanently present in the University, I have established – in consultation with the academic deans – a Sustainability Council that includes University wide representation of faculty, students from CLA, Atkinson, School of Education and Law.
I propose that the charge of the Sustainability Council should include the following: to promote interdisciplinary study related to sustainability and the environment; to promote sustainability and environmental literacy in our curricula; to promote activities that enhance our awareness of sustainability and the environment; to promote strategic initiatives that will have the effect of creating a sustainable culture in University activities; and to promote sustainable best practices in the design of new buildings and the renovation of existing buildings.
I have asked Professor Joe Bowersox to chair the Sustainability Council and to provide leadership for our initial efforts in this important area of University life. It is my hope that the Sustainability Council will begin to meet no later than the middle of the spring term.
I appreciate any ideas that you might have that would improve upon our commitment to creating a University that values sustainability in all of its many dimensions.
Thank you.
President M. Lee Pelton