EMU is working towards being more sustainable to help protect the environment and fight against climate change. EMU is attempting to do this by hiring  Andrea Troyer to fill the Sustainability Coordinator position here. The Sustainability Coordinator operates within the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Office (DEI). Troyer started working at EMU in August of 2023, the start of this academic school year. She graduated from EMU in the spring of 2022 with a BS in Environmental Sustainability. Troyer is the person who will be leading EMU in anything sustainable for as long as she is working here. Troyer decided to hold an event on Feb. 21 called Sustainable Together, which is an event to talk about what sustainable steps EMU has taken. Then, there was a small group period for students, faculty, and staff to talk about how EMU is doing in terms of sustainability and what EMU could do to improve sustainability on campus. 

Troyer talks about some of EMU’s history in terms of sustainability. She says that EMU has made much progress from 2010 to 2016. Troyer says that EMU has been a leader in the community for climate-oriented goals. Troyer talks about the fact that EMU, from 2010 to 2016, installed solar panels all over campus and started having a bike go around to pick up recycling and composting. EMU had a different Sustainability Coordinator during those six years, but they left after 2016. So, from 2017 to 2023, EMU did not have anybody filling that position. Troyer said during this time, “EMU has reached a lot of the low-hanging fruit for reducing our carbon footprint without major financial investments. At the same time, we are also noticing that other universities and colleges across the United States are investing and prioritizing more to meet their climate commitments, meaning that it’s become a much more common trend for a university to be committed to sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint and prospective students are looking for universities that are committed.” The vacancy in the Sustainability Coordinator position is not the only reason EMU put sustainability on the back burner. During this time, A new president took over, which always comes with priority shifts. Also, during this time, the COVID pandemic happened, and it took more work to prioritize something like sustainability when the priority was keeping a COVID breakout on campus. 

Troyer emphasizes that EMU is starting to shift once again: “In the past year and semester alone, we’re seeing environmental sustainability being focused and the undergraduate CORE and environmental sustainability being identified as a “university theme” along with the other core values (faith and meaning, power and equity, and intercultural learning).” EMU is starting to turn its focus back on sustainability. She feels that they filled the Sustainability coordinator position again, showing that they are focusing on sustainability again. Troyer also explains that the fact that EMU held an event like Sustainable Together shows that EMU is shifting back to this focus of sustainability. Troyer also says that the new core curriculum has a lot about sustainability. Troyer thinks “we are at a unique opportunity to fully recommit to our value and show the community of Harrisonburg and other universities around us what sustainability means and how we can be more resilient in this climate changing world. As an educational institution going forward, we need to articulate how we teach and engage with sustainability practices while also living into what we teach by committing to reduce our own ecological footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.” Troyer thinks we can be leaders for Harrisonburg and lead by example in the surrounding community. 

Troyer says that the Sustainability Coordinator role is becoming more common in colleges across the United States. She thinks these positions are essential in all sorts of institutions to help bring sustainability to the forefront of everybody’s brains. 

Troyer says that “one of the biggest things for students is just knowing that you are not alone in this work. It can be overwhelming to look at climate change or any major injustice and feel stuck, but connecting with each other builds the community, which makes solutions to climate change feel less daunting or unattainable.” She also says that you do not have to be perfect to try to work through these goals. Little by little, we will be able to make a difference. Troyer wanted to end with a quote from Anne Marie Bonneau: “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”