Student Life
The Sustainability, Equity, & Justice Fund Grant Program promotes sustainability by providing grants to create and implement projects that positively impact environmental, social, health, and economic practices on our campus and in our community.
Furniture Fest & Couchella
Amount Awarded: $22,497.96
Academic Year: 2022-2023
Implementation: Summer 2023 – Summer 2024
Full Application: Link
Categories: Campus and CommunityEngagement Student Life Waste
Furniture Fest is a program aimed at combating furniture waste that accumulates in the spring when students start moving out of their off-campus housing by collecting furniture, refurbishing it, and redistributing it out to future students, free of charge.
The ultimate goal of this grant was to provide support in institutionalizing Furniture Fest as a permanent program on campus. The team first applied for funding in the 2021-2022 academic year, and after a wildly successful summer, applied again to keep this project going for two more years as they begin to look for permanent funding.
The project offers students many opportunities like student employment, an outlet where they can donate and/or receive furniture, and an event named “Couchella” where students can obtain furniture while enjoying live music, games, food, and learning about the many sustainable focused clubs offered at Western and in Bellingham.
WWU FASA Heritage Night
Amount Awarded: $1,000.00
Academic Year: 2022-2023
Implementation: May 2023
Full Application: Link
Categories: Campus and Community Engagement Student Life
Heritage Night is an event hosted every year by the WWU Filipino-American Student Association (FASA) as a celebration of Filipino culture. This project assisted in funding catering, decorations, and entertainment for the enjoyment of the attendees. Through the celebration of Filipino culture, the event helped foster a sustainable community by solidifying the presence of Filipino-American students on Western’s campus, allowing for the continued strength and existence of this community at Western and Bellingham.
The theme of this year’s Heritage Night was Masayang Nakaraan, or A Distant Dream – the night was centered around nostalgia from the past, with performances featuring throwback songs from many of the students’ childhoods. The keynote speaker of the night was Janis Velasquez-Farmer, a FASA alumna from the 90s who talked about her experiences in the early days of FASA, as well as sentiments she wanted to pass on to the future generation.
Earth Day Fair Free Produce Table
Amount Awarded: $972.90
Academic Year: 2022-2023
Implementation: April 2023
Full Application: Link
Categories: Campus and Community Engagement Student Life Dining Services Procurement
This grant allowed for the purchase of bulk produce from local farms to redistribute to students at no cost during the Earth Week Fair that happened April 21st, 2023. According to Western Washington University’s Office of Basic Living, 44.7% of students struggle with some level of food insecurity as of 2021. The purpose of this project was to bring momentary aid to students who are food insecure as well as expand students' knowledge of the concept of food justice, and how it plays into the larger idea of environmental justice.
In addition to a lack of food security, many financial barriers exist for college students that restrict them from acquiring healthy, locally grown food. With this project, the team wanted to bring food directly to campus, eliminating virtually any barrier that would restrict access to clean, healthy produce. The plan was for any leftover produce to be distributed to the various food pantries on campus; however, the produce was “sold out” within an hour of their table opening.
Produce was sourced from Puget Sound Food Hub, a local digital marketplace whose mission is “to support and champion local, family scale farms by providing a direct connection with buyers in our region seeking high quality, locally produced food,” according to their website.
Climate Leadership Certificate and Sustainability Pathways Capacity Development
Amount Awarded: $20,897.50
Academic Year: 2022-2023
Implementation: Active, April 2023 – Spring 2026
Full Application: Link
Categories: Campus and CommunityEngagement Student Life
The purpose of this project was to support underrepresented students in the Environmental Science (ESCI) program by increasing community and connections between ESCI faculty and other underrepresented students. The main idea was to host quarterly events where students and faculty could share a meal together and foster strong relationships and mentorships. This grant funded a three-year program, managed by the College of the Environment’s Diversity Recruitment and Retention Specialist, Shalini Singh.
Through these events, students, staff, and faculty will be able to meet while enjoying high-quality culturally relevant food, entertainment, and guest speakers. Food from different cultures gives students an easily accessible opportunity to experience food from a wide range of different cultures. In turn, this will increase representation for students as they might be able to identify with the food being served. The guest speakers will highlight the experience of working in the ESCI field as an underrepresented person. The hope is to ultimately attract more students of color into the College of the Environment, as well as to create a strong and lasting support system for them.
ATTENDING THE AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION (APA) NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2023
Amount Awarded: $34,305.00
Academic Year: 2022-2023
Implementation: April 2023
Full Application: Link
Categories: Built Environment Campus and Community Engagement Student Life
This grant provided Urban Planning Club members with the opportunity to attend the American Planning Association (APA) National Conference in Philadelphia. Up to 20 Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy (UEPP) students were given the opportunity to talk to professional planners and government officials from across the nation to expand their perspectives and build professional opportunities. Students were given the opportunity to present several posters educating government officials and planning professionals on the importance of a deep analysis of environmental policy, climate change adaptation, and housing needs in their communities. Following the conference, the UEPP students were able to share their experiences with the greater WWU community and bring attention to the Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy department.
The WWU Urban Planning club (members of which attended the conference) aims to bring awareness to the following goals on a local and national level:
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Climate change adaptation and resilience
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Environmental sustainability
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Housing affordability, accessibility, and diversity
These goals are best represented in sustainable cities and communities. Western is a small university, and students are only exposed to what our university and this region can expose them to; however, traveling to the national conference expanded their perspectives and gave them opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise had. They were able to bring professional experience back with them to improve the Urban Planning program, as well as their own professional lives.
Growth, Resilience, and Belonging: Strengthening membership and experiences for Black and Brown Men at WWU
Amount Awarded: $28,000.00
Academic Year: 2022-2023
Implementation: March 2023
Full Application: Link
Categories: Campus and Community Engagement Curriculum and Research Student Life
With the funding of this grant students from WWU’s Black and Brown Male Success Collective (BBMSC) were able to attend the Men of Color National Summit at Clemson University. The 2-day leadership conference (March 28-29th) included workshops and dialogues that emphasize the importance of education, best practices, and choices to increase high school and college graduation rates among men of color. The attendance of this summit by WWU’s students enhanced their overall college experience by providing them the opportunity to hear and learn from successful men of color across various industries and allow them to network.
The Men’s Resiliency Program founded the Black & Brown Male Success Collective during the 2019-2020 academic year. This research-based program is designed to engage male-identifying students from historically marginalized communities with academic success, exploring masculinity, community service learning, and cross-cultural identity development.
WASHINGTON OREGON HIGHER EDUCATION SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCE (WOHESC) 2023 SCHOLARSHIPS
Amount Awarded: $7,682.00
Academic Year: 2022-2023
Implementation: March 2023
Full Application: Link
Categories: Curriculum and Research Student Life
This project provided up to 13 students the opportunity to attend the Washington Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC), that took place March 6th through March 8th, 2023, at Oregon State University. The conference offered critical opportunities to engage with, and learn from, a diverse set of speakers/participants on a variety of sustainability topics such as student leadership, decarbonization, green spaces, ways to procure funding, sustainable design, program implementation strategies, and much more that could translate to positive change on Western’s campus.
WOHESC is the premier regional campus sustainability conference. The topics discussed throughout the conference focused on regional political, social, economic, and environmental issues with an emphasis on creating strong connections between campuses throughout Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. After students returned from the conference, they shared what they learned with the broader campus community through a Sustainability Roundtable event on campus.