Abstract
In this chapter, I examine campus sustainability and climate activism in U.S. religious higher education. I use social movement perspectives from sociology to assess its organizational boundaries and cultural foundations in a case study featuring the Consortium of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). Signals of campus sustainability among them are weak from institutionalized higher education data reporting sources. Stronger signals of sustainability come from direct campus surveys by student-led religious environmental movement organizations. Growing campus climate activism and leadership by students, faculty, and administrators also appears on these conservative Christian colleges and universities. Their discourse about the meaning of sustainability, strategies for implementing it, and its rationale differs significantly from secular advocates of sustainability in higher education. Little mention of climate change appears in it. Furthermore, their justification for campus sustainability is framed almost exclusively within religious terms. Overall, I find in this exploratory analysis that the prevalence of campus sustainability initiatives among CCCU schools is underreported, but still minimal. Some barriers to expanding it reflect the particular subculture of U.S. conservative Protestants. Others are shared with challenges secular campuses face when implementing organizational change for sustainability. Opportunity for building bridges to overcome them begins in better understanding these conservative Christian campuses’ religious framing of sustainability values and their organizational cultures. Given the larger societal and political context of climate change in the U.S., however, this requires greater engagement of secular advocates of sustainability in higher education and climate activists. The value this holds for addressing climate change’s possible impacts and reducing its human contributions comes from how this sector of higher education educates many future leaders of this influential conservative religious segment of U.S. society.
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Notes
- 1.
YECA defines “young evangelical” as 30 years or younger.
- 2.
Other signatories include current and former leaders in Christian higher education from provosts (John D. Yordy, Ph.D., Goshen College) and theological seminary presidents (Dr. Ron Benefiel, Nazarene Theological Seminary; Rev. Paul de Vries, Ph.D., New York Divinity School; Rev. Timothy George, Ph.D. Founding Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University; Rev. Dr. Jeffrey E. Greenway, former president, Asbury Theological Seminary; Richard Mouw, Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary; John E. Phelan, Jr., president, North Park Theological Seminary), as well as past and emeritus CCCU presidents (Paul Corts and Robert Andringa, Ph.D., respectively). Current presidents of CCCU “Member” and “Affiliate” schools also are among the ECI signatories, and include many more than appear on the ACUPCC active signatory list.
- 3.
The American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) “recognizes the unique responsibility that institutions of higher education have as role models for their communities and in educating the people who will develop the social, economic and technological solutions to reverse global warming and help create a thriving, civil and sustainable society.”
- 4.
- 5.
STARS 2.0 “Basic Access” limited benefits: “Access to the online STARS Reporting Tool to measure your institutions current sustainability performance and create a baseline for continuous improvement; Streamline your sustainability reporting efforts by sharing STARS reporting data with other organizations (e.g. Sierra Magazine and The Princeton Review); and Option to publicly share your institutions sustainability data and achieve recognition as a STARS Reporter.”
- 6.
Second Nature currently directs the ACUPCC and hosts its web presence. Its LinkedIn company page identifies it as a Boston-based nonprofit organization founded in 1993, and states “that in order for society to move in a sustainable direction, higher education must develop a new framework in which the sector and individual institutions operate as a [sic] full integrated communities that teach, research, and model social and ecological sustainability.” Its mission “is to proactively build a sustainable and positive global future through initiating bold commitments, scaling successful actions, and accelerating innovative solutions among leadership networks in higher education” SecondNature (2013). “Second Nature: Education for Sustainability”. vol. 2015. Boston MA: Second Nature, Inc.
- 7.
A much smaller association of 13 conservative Protestant schools known as the Christian College Consortium (CCC) also exists within the CCCU. It includes: Asbury University, Bethel University, George Fox University, Gordon College, Greenville College, Houghton College, Malone University, Messiah College, Seattle Pacific University, Taylor University, Trinity International University, Westmont College, and Wheaton College CCC (2015). “Christian College Consortium”. vol. 2015. Wenham MA: Christian College Consortium.
- 8.
“A [CCCU] member institution meets five requirements: (1) It is a nonprofit, North American institution with non-probationary regional accreditation (or the Canadian equivalent) that offers comprehensive undergraduate curricula rooted in the arts and sciences; (2) It has a Christian mission statement and integrates Biblical faith into its educational programs; (3) It has an institutional policy and practice to hire only persons who profess faith in Jesus Christ as full-time faculty members and administrators; (4) It is committed to advancing the cause of Christian higher education and is supportive of other Christian colleges and universities; and (5) It operates under the standards of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.” CCCU (2015). “Members & Affiliates”. vol. 2015. Washington DC: Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.
- 9.
*CCCU school sustainability office or organizational account, ^student sustainability organization or club account.
- 10.
These include: ACU, APU, Bethel, Calvin, EMU, Gordon, Goshen, Houghton, IWU, JBU, Messiah, PLNU, SPU, Trevecca, Trinity, Whitworth.
- 11.
Greatest number of sustainability-dedicated web pages: ACU, Calvin, EMU, Gordon, Houghton, JBU, Messiah, PLNU, SPU, Whitworth.
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Routhe, A. (2016). Reading the Signs of Sustainability in Christian Higher Education: Symbolic Value Claims or Substantive Organizational Change?. In: Davim, J., Leal Filho, W. (eds) Challenges in Higher Education for Sustainability. Management and Industrial Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23705-3_3
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