91³ÉÈË

The 91³ÉÈË Community celebrated Earth Day on Wednesday, April 20 with a fair held in Westgate Circle. The fair, which focused on sustainability, featured 10 local organizations, businesses and 91³ÉÈË student organizations who shared various ways to care for the environment.

At the conclusion of the event, 91³ÉÈË President Dr. Thomas M. Evans accepted the Silver Certification from the City of San Antonio for 91³ÉÈË’s completion of the ReWorksSA program. This certification is a first step on 91³ÉÈË’s commitment to the Laudato Sí Action Platform, which implements in Catholic institutions Pope Francis’s call toward sustainability in the spirit of integral ecology.

The chair of the Sustainability Advisory Board, Dr. Ben Miele, said overall, the event “was a rousing success and signals a bright future for sustainability at 91³ÉÈË, especially since it displays the enthusiasm among students, faculty, and staff for more robust investment in sustainability, notably with regard to the overlap between environmental justice and social justice.”

“It was important for me to volunteer at the event because if I want to see a greener world where people care about the environment, I believe I have to be part of that change”, noted Andrea Jackson-Gomez, a student in Ecocriticism this semester. “And a good way to do it is by stepping out of my comfort zone and inviting my friends to do the same. I hope that people in my booth learned that taking care of a plant is a little challenging, but it is worth it. And that 91³ÉÈË is doing things to make the school a more sustainable place." 

Dr. Lourdes Fortepiani, professor in the Rosenberg School of Optometry, and Mauro Medina, 91³ÉÈË Facilities, were presented the William Mulcahy Awards for Ecological Stewardship. This award was created in 2007 in recognition of grounds superintendent Bill Mulcahy’s leadership in ecological conservation and care of the land at 91³ÉÈË. Each year, nominations are submitted to the Earth Month Committee, which selects two nominees to receive this award, one faculty member and one staff member.

Fortepiani was instrumental in getting the Sustainability Studies concentration up and running and in organizing the first Faculty Orientation Workshop for the Sustainability Studies concentration, while Medina has been a key player in helping revive the 91³ÉÈË community garden after recent inclement weather.

Booths at the 91³ÉÈË Earth Fair:

• Nutrition at 91³ÉÈË
• Rooted Vegan Cuisine
• Pure Aloha Bath and Beauty
• Headwaters at Incarnate Word, Inc.
• Sustainability Education Committee - Educational Display
• 91³ÉÈË Sustain
• Rosenberg School of Optometry
• Black Llama
• iHouse
• Nutrition and Dietetics Society

The Earth Day celebration is important to the 91³ÉÈË community as it encompasses care of Creation and contributes to promoting the 91³ÉÈË Mission among students and the broader San Antonio community.