Campus Greening: Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota

Macalester students worked to install two green roofs on campus.

Momentum is building at Macalester College, a small, liberal arts college in Minnesota. Students, faculty, staff, and administrators are joined by local businesses, organizations, and political and community leaders in a movement to change the way people interact with the environment. Recent achievements and activities at Macalester demonstrate that change is taking place on campus and beyond.

In 2005–­06, students led by Timothy Den Herder-Thomas, Asa Diebolt, and Richard Graves developed the Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF), an innovative financial structure that will facilitate future projects focused on sustainability. Ellie Rogers and Alese Colehour led Macalester to the installation of two green roofs—planted roofs that include such benefits as improved insulation, reduced water runoff rates, and a reduction of the urban heat island effect. Students also raised awareness about energy conservation through a competition to reduce electrical energy consumption between on-campus dormitories called Dorm Wars. In the fall, incoming students of the class of 2010 were given energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs and information on campus sustainability practices.

Physical changes such as the newly installed green roofs are paralleled by a change in the consciousness of the Macalester College community. Everyone from potential students to President Brian Rosenberg has taken notice of the “Climate of Change” at Macalester. Members of the class of 2010, several of whom have joined the Macalester Conservation and Renewable Energy Society (MacCARES), were attracted to Macalester by the sustainable projects and initiatives in which students were engaged. Faculty, staff, and administrators are realizing the energy, ambition, and effectiveness of students working towards goals such as the reduction of carbon emissions, the sustainable construction of campus buildings, and the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy resources.

The physical and conscious transformations taking place at Macalester are part of a burgeoning movement that includes colleges across the United States where students are collaborating to change human-environment interactions. Students and student-led projects in the Macalester College community are connected to broader initiatives such as Global Warming 101 and Energy Action which seek to educate people about global warming, reduce its effects, and unite student efforts to transform the way energy is used. The vision of students at Macalester College is one of a world transformed by members of a global community working in concert to create change.

—Submitted by David Schmitt, student, Macalester College