Environmental Institute Formed at JMU

Since the particular social movement that I tend to focus on the most is environmentalism, I thought I would share this recent bit of news from JMU’s public affairs department. Formation of the “Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World” provides yet another piece of evidence as to JMU’s role in the environmental movement. Environmentally concerned students and faculty persuade the university to enact more environmentally friendly measures, and in turn, once those measures have been implemented, the overall student-faculty body begins to adhere to these practices. Although there may be opposition at first, as with the removal of trays at D-hall, the eco-friendly measures will eventually become the norm for students. For example, after the class of 2012 graduates, the subsequent classes of students from then on out will not recall a time when trays were actually used in D-hall, therefore, the trayless system will be the norm for them. We current students complain about the new policy, because we remember the added convenience of trays, however, the incoming students will (hopefully) accept it as a standard campus practice, because they have no other option to compare it to. Based on this assumption, I contend that JMU, though an institution instead of an individual, is an active participant in the environmental movement. By creating situations and instituting policies that condition students to reduce their ecological footprint, JMU advances the pro-environment cause. While it would be absurd to expect every member of the student body to become an activist in the movement, I think it is safe to assume that several activists will emerge from the eco-friendly setting that the school provides. By contributing even a few activists to the cause, the institution can thus take credit for increasing participation in and furthering the reach of the movement.