Santa Clara University

This issue of explore on sustainability is quite timely, coming just a few weeks after the inauguration of Michael Engh, S.J. as Santa Clara’s President.

In his inaugural address, Fr. Engh challenged the University with these words:

Santa Clara University is uniquely positioned to make a significant contribution to achieving a more just and sustainable future. And I propose that we seriously consider becoming a major center for the discussion of environmental justice and for examining the ethical dimensions of how we treat the physical world. I believe that we can lead in the development and promotion of practices, and businesses, and technologies that will insure a viable and just future for all.

Please read this issue with our President’s challenge in mind.

By Keith Douglass Warner, OFM Sustainability provides a positive vision for the future of the human family, and Catholic higher education offers opportunities - and has obligations - to advance this important cause.

By Paul J. Fitzgerald, S.J. If our religious considerations of the ecological crisis lead us to conclude that we must devise new ways of living that are truly sustainable, then perhaps religious reflection has a crucial role to play in ecological conversations.

By Sara S. Garcia Teachers, as socially responsible agents of change, must integrate environmental concepts into curricula to help students learn about the rapidly changing world and how they can help.

By Lindsey Cromwell, '04 Rather than create a "sustainability requirement," SCU is integrating sustainability into many disciplines, in the same manner as it appears in the real world.

By Meghan Mooney, '09 SCU demonstrates a commitment to sustainability in many ways. But to what extent has sustainability become part of campus culture and an internalized value in the beliefs and actions of Santa Clara University students, faculty, and staff?

By Ed Maurer While working on a gravity-fed water system design capable of supplying clean drinking water with no outside energy, two SCU students and their advisor learned that sustainable water development entails engaging with the community, protecting the environment, and ensuring the long-term operation of the system.