This past November, eight WashU students representing the Congress of the South 40 (CS40) and the Luminescence Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) participated in the Midwest Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (MACURH) Regional Leadership Conference, hosted at Saint Louis University.
This year, WashU won the regional Commitment to Sustainability award, which recognizes student directed, yearlong and campus-wide sustainability and ecological initiatives. WashU’s winning submission highlighted a number of initiatives and campaigns including:
- Green Cup, annual energy reduction competition (since 2011!), led by the CS40’s EcoReps;
- The WUGA-led residential composting program;
- The no-straw campaign led by SSB and its resulted outcomes;
- The ongoing Fossil-Free WashU campaign led by Green Action;
- And the many other student organizations dedicated to advancing sustainability on campus and beyond.
Tyler Priest, student leadership coordinator for residence education, had originally encouraged CS40 students to submit a bid on behalf of WashU. “I was so happy to see the students bid for this award. CS40 and WashU broadly are doing some incredible work with sustainability, and I am so glad the students chose to share that with our region, and that the region recognized the outstanding work we are doing here at WashU.”
Risako Nosaki, sustainability chair of the CS40 and a WashU Green Ambassador, co-led the WashU bidding process. “It’s amazing to see student effort and involvement on campus get awarded and acknowledged. I hope this will keep the momentum going and for more students to be involved! I’m so honored to be able to work among such amazing students working towards change.”
Read the full Student Life article here.