Residential communities
Our students are not only committed to learning about sustainable lifestyle choices, they’re committed to living them. As early as freshman year, students can make sustainable housing choices. Our Engaged Living Programs have a sustainability-focused option, the Environmental Community of Students. These students spend their freshman year living together and learning about the concepts of sustainability. In addition to taking two First Year Seminars focused on environmental concepts, students earn a $1,000 stipend while working on sustainability projects on and off campus throughout the year. This can include field trips to self-sustaining communities, visiting locally-owned and operated agriculture or studying soil management, composting and organic agriculture techniques on the Furman Farm. Many students who have been involved in this program have become campus environmental and sustainability leaders.
As upperclassmen, students can choose to live in the Greenbelt Community. Home to 22 students, the community is made up of a series of cabins along the lake next to the Bell Tower. These residents commit to learning about and living a sustainable lifestyle through lecture series, book and film discussions, gardening and participating in sustainability competitions.