Concordia's commitment to stewardship of the planet has been affirmed by its president, Rev. Dr. Brian Friedrich.
Friedrich has joined more than 550 other college and university presidents from institutions across the country as a signatory to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. By doing so Concordia is committed to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and establish sustainable policies for energy usage.
"We are cognizant of our need to be the best possible stewards of God's creation," said Friedrich. "We are thrilled to be part of a larger body of institutions that seeks to care for our environment and helps students understand and demonstrate stewardship both here on campus and as they go out into the world to serve."
Concordia is the first and only school in Nebraska to have made this commitment. Since signing in April, the climate committee has been established, a review of current activities has occurred and initial plans have been set in place to follow the ACUPCC initiative.
"Joining the commitment at this time enables us to integrate our stewardship plans into the core of our strategic plan. The initial focus of the committee will be threefold: care for our campus, care for our community and care for God's creation," said Friedrich.
Initial plans include an energy-saving competition between residence halls and a campus-wide recycling program for paper, glass, plastic and aluminum with receptacles in working and living spaces. The committee is charged with outlining additional short-term and long-term plans that will render the university carbon neutral as soon as is feasible and to report progress periodically to the national committee. Within their plans, the committee stressed the need for broad ownership of the initiative across campus and not leaving it all up to one office or department.
An overarching feature of the commitment is the encouragement to integrate the ideas and actions of stewardship and energy sustainability into courses across the curriculum. Friedrich commented on the excitement of the professors on the committee to "infuse the concept of Christian stewardship" into courses and interactions with students.
This is certainly not a new thing to the students, faculty and staff at Concordia. Before the climate commitment was signed, recycling efforts, volunteering at recycling centers, "Energy Star" equipment, repurposing building materials and environmentally-friendly cleaning products were all a part of the campus culture.
The members of the committee include Friedrich; Dr. Joe Gubanyi, associate professor of biology; Bud Henderson, director of buildings and grounds; Phil Hendrickson, director of library services; Dave Kumm, chief financial officer; Dr. Kathy Miller, associate professor of sociology; and students Jake Hischke, Mathilda Kond and Amy Wolf. For the time being, Friedrich has been designated as the campus liaison to report back to the national committee.