To New Heights:!
Boston College And The Jesuit Mission Of Sustainability!
By K athr yn K avner, Gloria Kostadinova, Jose ph Manning, K atelyn Olsson !
Introduction!!
The Catholic Church, as well as the Society of Jesus, emphasize the inextricable nature of environmental and social justice, and continually stress the need to protect and cultivate God’s creation. Moreover, the contemporary climate crisis threatens the poorest
members of society; in order to alleviate poverty, we must simultaneously address environmental degradation. Boston College has the potential to play a critical role as a leading Jesuit institution to set the standard for sustainability. It is with great urgency that we
must employ our Jesuit tradition as men and women for others, including other ecological organisms without which we cannot sustain life on earth. !
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Methods!
With the relationship between Boston College, the Jesuit Mission, and environmental sustainability firmly established, we set about analyzing how successfully BC represents its stated mission, and whether or not our actions on campus and the administration’s
decisions truly reflect the Ignatian Spirit. We took a holistic approach by studying the university's academics, student service groups, student organizations and facilities and management. To collect information we conducted face-to-face interviews with Boston
College staff, created an online survey to assess service programs, emailed student groups and administrative directors, analyzed Catholic and Jesuit documents and researched Boston College's practices.
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Analysis and Results
Analysis and Results!
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Facilities!
By analyzing the 2012 Greenhouse Gas Inventory and the
Report on Sustainability at Boston College, it is clear that
solid progress has been made by several departments to
improve sustainability of Boston College. BC’s greenhouse
gas emissions have decrease by 15% over the last 7 years. !
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Academics !
The Environmental Studies Department seeks to educate
students in accordance with the Jesuit mission about the value
of the environment and our responsibility to act, so as to
lessen our impact and find solutions. Both the minor and new
major use an interdisciplinary approach to provide students
with the knowledge to combat environmental problems.
Members of faculty are also taught about environmental
issues through a series of workshops offered by the university.!
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Gross emissions over time “2012 Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Boston College” !
Breakdown of Course Offerings by School !
Survey Respondent Breakdown !
Students Enrolled in ES Program Over Time “Proposal for
Undergraduate Major”!
Number of Sustainability Related Courses Across Jesuit
Universities!
Survey Respondent Breakdown!
Recommendations !
While Boston College has certainly made efforts to live up to the Jesuit mission as it pertains to sustainability, such efforts have been piecemeal at best. If Boston College is to fulfill its obligation to the
planet and future generations as a Jesuit, Catholic University it must show concrete leadership, that adopts an ethos of sustainability into all aspects of the university. !
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Recommendations for Facilities: !
Recommendations for Academics:!
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• ! Sign “The St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor”.!
•  Incorporate sustainability into its university-wide core curriculum.!
• ! Announce specific, measurable, and ambitious targets for reducing CO2 emission as well as a •  Offer more courses with environmental themes in the Carroll School of Management, Lynch
School of Education and the Connell School of Nursing. An overwhelming majority of the
! plan to make the University carbon neutral.!
environmental courses currently offered are through the College of Arts and Sciences and the
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university would benefit by integrating this education into all of its schools.!
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Recommendation for Student Groups:!
Recommendations for Service Organizations: !
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• ! Encourage the development of student organizations that address sustainability within a •  Include environmental justice on the VSLC website with accompanying links and resources.!
! broader theme of academics, pre-professional preparation, politics, service, and/or theology. ! •  Encourage all service groups to engage in an environmental sustainability dialogue.!
• ! This will educate and attract students from various disciplines and those who do not define •  Educate students on the relationship between sustainability and service.!
•  Offer more service trips that focus on environmental stewardship and action.!
! themselves primarily as "environmentalists”.!
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Student Organizations!
There are a total of five student groups whose mission
includes environmental stewardship: Bike BC, Real Food BC,
EcoPledge, Outdoor Club, and BC Fossil Free (which is not
registered). A comparison of similar Jesuit schools showed the
opportunity for BC to encourage the development of new,
wider-reaching clubs that will attract a broader and more
diverse array of students. !
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Service Groups !
The online survey, distributed to BC students through
university list serves and social media outlets, demonstrated
that most service programs do not incorporate environmental
education, action, or dialogue. However, the majority of
students believe that environmental sustainability is very
important to social justice. Boston College must respond to
this inconsistency to better integrate service and stewardship.!
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Thank you!!
We would like to thank our mentor, Father Andrea, as well as
Bob Pion, Noah Snyder, Laura Hake, and Carol Pepin for
generously donating their time and resources to our research.
And last but not least, thank you to Prof. Pisani-Gareau for
her guidance and support throughout the semester.!
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Works Cited!
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Snyder, N., et al. (2013). Proposal for an Undergraduate Major in the College of Arts and Sciences
in Environmental Studies. Chestnut Hill, MA, Boston College: 18.!
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