Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement

CU grads vow to stay green

Seniors pledge to be environmentally, socially responsible.
By Brittany Anas

About 200 seniors will be among the University of Colorado's first green graduates Friday, having signed pledges to be socially and environmentally responsible when they enter the real world.

The campus - which welcomes freshmen with a zero-waste festival in the fall and won environmental awards this year for the green design and construction of its newest buildings - is now part of a 20-year-old nationwide effort called the Graduation Pledge Alliance.

CU graduates, wearing green cords over their graduation gowns at Friday's commencement ceremony, will join students from more than 100 universities and colleges across the country making the same promise. Those schools include Harvard, Stanford, Notre Dame and the University of Michigan.

The students who sign up pledge "to consider the social and environmental consequences of choices I make in my personal life and work, and (to) act with integrity in my workplace and community."

Neil Wollman, who co-directs the national Graduation Pledge Alliance program, said many college students are committed to these values.

"Making a public commitment tends to increase the value of that commitment, which is especially important here when these students get out into the world and lose some of the support they had while in college," Wollman said.

The pledge began in 1987 at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif.

Students who sign the pledge receive a small card with the pledge written on it. University student leaders hope the number of participants will grow in coming years, and the shared promise will help keep graduates connected once they leave the campus.

Joni Borzcik, a graduating seniorwho is the president of the 2007 Senior Class Council, said she has enjoyed being part of a civic-minded university, where recycling bins saturate the campus and the school frequently sends out e-mails with eco-friendly tips. She said she wants to take that with her as she sets off for law school in San Diego.

"Boulder is a very environmentally conscious and socially conscious place," Borzcik said. "I've adapted to it."

Council members worked with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs to make the pledge part of the 2007 commencement. Currently, only undergraduates can sign the pledge, but, in the future, it may include graduate students, too, Borzcik said.

Students interested in signing the pledge can visit Koenig Alumni Center on campus from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. Friday, students can pick up their green cords from a table set up on the Norlin Quadrangle from 7 to 8 a.m. during the commencement breakfast.

For more information about signing the graduation pledge, visit the Senior Class Council's Web site at www.colorado.edu/StudentGroups/scc/home.

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