Hello Graduation
Pledgers,
Hope everything is going
well as the new academic
year gets under way. My
name is Zach Burton and
I am the new Graduation
Pledge Alliance
co-coordinator. I have
been working closely
with co-coordinator Neil
Wollman here at
Manchester, and am very
much looking forward to
the coming year of
Pledge activity.
There are some exciting
things happening with
the Pledge, allow me to
note a few developments
in particular:
·
The new website (www.e-xplore.org)
is still under
construction. For those
of you who don’t know
about e-xplore, it is a
website designed as a
resource for those
wanting to work and live
in a
socially-responsible
way. Hopefully, if all
goes according to
schedule, it should be
fully up and running by
this spring semester.
In the meantime, feel
free to visit the site
and see what it looks
like.
·
Discussions are
still occurring
concerning a twenty-year
anniversary celebration
of the Pledge. The
celebration/conference
is scheduled to be held
at Humboldt State
University in California
(where the Pledge was
started 20 years ago),
and we’ll keep you
posted as new
developments arise.
·
One of our goals
this year is to conduct
research into Pledge
success and activity.
We will be in contact
with well-known
researches to see how
best to go about this
project. The most
important aspect of this
research will be to
conduct a sort of “where
are they now?” survey.
Essentially, we would
like to hear from past
signers of the Pledge
concerning ways in which
their commitment to
social and environmental
responsibility has
affected their career
paths. We would really
appreciate any stories
or testimonials any of
you could send our way
from Graduation Pledge
signers who are now in
the workforce.
·
Finally, we would
like schools to feel
free to nominate a
student at your school
to serve as a member of
the advisory board.
Also, feel free to
nominate any faculty
members you feel could
help.
In closing, Matt
Nicodemus (Pledge
founder at Humboldt
State University) is
pushing for some type of
involvement with “Focus
the Nation,” a combined
effort by over a
thousand schools to
raise awareness about
climate change. For
more information, you
can go to
http://www.focusthenation.org/index.html,
or contact Jeremy Osborn
at Middlebury College (josborn@middlebury.edu).
Well, that’s about it
for now. As always, we
are on the lookout for
new schools, new media,
and personal stories
about the Pledge to
strengthen the program.
Feel free to get in
contact with us if you
think you have any good
ideas, and also feel
free to try to recruit
other schools if you
think they might be
receptive to the Pledge.
Welcome back to school,
and good luck.
Remember, if you want to
make a strong showing at
commencement, it is
imperative that you
begin planning for it
THIS SEMESTER. That
way, the spring semester
can be devoted to
implementing Pledge
plans. Let’s make this
year great. On behalf
of Neil,
Zachary Paul Burton
Co-coordinator
The Graduation Pledge
Alliance
Manchester
College
zpburton@gmail.com
(317) 412-3006
