Get to know a club: Students for Sustainability

TU students advocate for more sustainable practices on campus and in our community.

tucollegian | Collegian

Students for Sustainability is a student-run environmental organization at The University of Tulsa that works to meet sustainability needs on campus and to promote native flora in the Tulsa area. While the organization was previously active, Students for Sustainability remained dormant until it was revitalized by a group of graduating seniors in 2022 and current faculty sponsor Dr. Anne Grau, before being passed down to its current executive board including co-Presidents Magnolia Garbarino and Ethan Bise as well as Vice President Aryn Moore. The Students for Sustainability’s executive board also maintains a variety of other positions such as treasurer, secretary, and executive assistant, so that their activity can be coordinated with the everchanging sustainability needs in the community.

In the long term, the organization’s overarching initiatives include improving the current system for recycling on campus to make it more efficient and accessible for students and faculty alike to participate in. Aligned with this idea, Students for Sustainability also would like to reduce the amount of food waste produced on campus, most specifically the excessive waste produced from the Pat Case dining hall. Yet another significant initiative is to encourage the administration to plant native flora in the university’s gardens to promote indigenous biodiversity or for the organization to even plant their own community garden.

So far this year, Students for Sustainability have had two general body meetings, the most recent being Oct. 11, in which The University of Tulsa’s own Dr. Gaurav Kampani gave an insightful lecture about his own experiences with native gardening and the idea of gaining and asserting agency through individual environmental decisions and changes. The organization has also already coordinated group hikes such as their most recent excursion to Keystone in Sand Springs, Oklahoma on Saturday, Oct. 5, in which they encouraged members to engage with local and indigenous environments. In addition to coordinating engaging group activities, the organization also is heavily involved in community service as well. On Saturday, Nov. 2, Students for Sustainability will be partnering up with the Tulsa Energy Management Student Association to plant native trees around the Tulsa area. Following up on this event on Thursday, Nov. 14, Students for Sustainability will be hosting an event at the university’s tailgate in which they will be hosting a vegetarian baked potato bar before the football game to show that game day culture and sustainability can coexist. Garbarino reflected on the purpose of this event, saying, “We want to show that sustainability is accessible and that it doesn’t have to contradict the things that we already enjoy.”

The Students for Sustainability’s executive team believes that small, individual choices have the ability to make huge impacts in the community and therefore they aim to promote sustainability and a healthier Earth by starting locally and making change where it matters the most, right here on campus. Students for Sustainability currently meet biweekly on Fridays at 1 p.m. in Helmreich Hall room 214. Anyone who has any questions is more than welcome to show up at their general meetings or contact Garbarino or Bise via email: mag0257@utulsa.edu and ejb9127@utulsa.edu.

Post Author: tucollegian