Academic

On Sunday the Washington Post ran a story on the greening of higher education.  The story pointed out various ways in which "environmental fervor" has swept college campuses.  Moreover, the story indicated that such fervor had moved beyond pushes for recycling bins toward a real transformation of the academic environment, including impacting curriculum and research endeavors.  The article suggests that interests in the environment and sustainability issues may no longer be just a passing fad, but instead may have become "fully entrenched in academic life."  If this is true, what accounts for the more permanence of such interests?

First, the growing fears of climate change coupled with a growing consensus on the validity of evidence regarding climate change.  Second, consumer demand--in this case, in the form of students.  According to the Washington Post, a Princeton Review poll not only shows that students have a commitment to environmental issues, but that such a commitment may impact their decision regarding which college to attend.  Once students get to college, this commitment translates into a push for a more environmentally-friendly atmosphere, prompting colleges to make small changes like those focusing on changing light bulbs and implementing recycling efforts as well as larger changes like re-evaluating their heating systems.    Moreover, students not only have pushed to ensure an increase in classes aimed at environmental issues (including ensuring that traditional classes incorporate an environmental perspective), but also have pushed for more experiential learning activities aimed at changing the neighborhoods around them.  Then too, students have tried to maintain their commitment post-college.  Hence, many students have signed pledges to continue to push for environmental awareness in their jobs.

Of course the question is, what is the likelihood of that they will be able to do so?  To be sure, it seems easier to change academia, than the business world.  And yet there are signs that even this may be possible.  Indeed, even a casual observer can see that companies apparently have increased their commitment to going green.  And while some it may just be rhetoric, some of it does seem to be a real increase in policies aimed at sustainability.  Moreover, proxy data and other research related to corporate social responsibility indicates that sustainability and environmental issues have been the CSR issues gaining the most traction with corporations within the last few years.  In other words, they seem to be the kinds of issues about which corporations are most willing to engage and the most likely to devote resources. 

In this regard, the research appears to confirm the notion that interests in this area may be more than just a passing fad, while also suggesting that students' environmental fervor can reach beyond the classroom and graduation.  In fact, perhaps the research reflects that it already has done so.