Hello Pledge organizers:
There are two exciting new developments for the
Graduation Pledge Alliance.
First, besides the regular national Pledge web
site (www.graduationpledge.org),
sometime this spring
we anticipate
that a new web site will hit cyberspace. A
Pledge sympathizer in Canada offered to set up a
site geared specifically to help Pledge signers
carry out their commitment. Pledge signers from
any school will be able to stay in contact with
each other (encourage others, trade ideas, ask
questions, etc.). They will also learn about
what is happening socially and environmentally
in the world that they can tie into (socially
responsible businesses, ways to contribute to
relevant causes, e.g.).
We hope that when details emerge, you
will spread the word to actual/potential pledge
signers so that they can take advantage of this
opportunity.
If you want to help on this new project, let me
know.
Second, Pledge organizers at Humboldt State
University are tentatively planning to hold a
twenty year national (or international)
anniversary conference for the Pledge in 2007!
The Pledge was, of
course, founded at Humboldt.
The conference will be a great
opportunity for like minded students and others
to discuss issues, learn more, and be inspired.
It will also publicize the project in a
new way and
hopefully bring in new schools. If you want to
help on this, let me know.
This is also a good time to note that both
Humboldt State and Chico State are in the
(hopefully) early stages of becoming, in a
sense, a combined west coast center for the
Pledge—and a chance for Humboldt to regain its
prominence on the project. If your school wants
to become more active nationally (perhaps
another Pledge center), let me know.
Otherwise, in reviewing last year’s update
around this time I realized that it would be
hard to improve upon its informative
nature—especially the piece from Melissa
Everett (Executive Director of the
Sustainable Careers Institute). So, with
small edits, here it is and I hope it is
just as useful to you now as it was for some
last year.
Best wishes,
Neil
Neil J. Wollman,
Coordinator
The Graduation Pledge
Alliance
MC Box 135
Manchester College
North Manchester, IN 46962
njwollman@manchester.edu
Dear Graduation Pledge
organizers:
Still need names and timelines...Thanks
to those of you who have sent the names of those
on your Pledge committee. Please do send this if
you haven't--we are still missing quite a few.
Include email addresses if anyone else should
receive these updates. Also, I still have
received few time lines for your Spring Pledge
activities. It helps keep you on track and us
informed.
Make use of the web site... We hope
that all organizers have checked what is
available at the web site,
www.graduationpledge.org. We have received
many favorable comments on the value of web site
for organizing purposes. The two major sections
are "Conducting a Graduation Pledge Effort at
Your School" and "Information For Pledge Signers
on Carrying Out the Pledge."
- Below is one example from the web site that
might be helpful in your Pledge effort: a
sample letter that is sent to all seniors at
my school which formally introduces the project
to them (though most students have heard of it
previously in some way). One important item in
the sample letter is the statement, "Please do
not sign the pledge card or wear a green ribbon
on graduation day unless you intend to fulfill
the commitment." It's possible that some seniors
will sign up or wear ribbons for reasons other
than a commitment to the spirit of the Pledge
(it happens!). We suggest that in your
materials/conversations, you remind graduates
not to participate unless they intend to fulfill
their commitment.
- You’ll also find near the top of the site a
downloadable version of the basic campaign
brochure that describes the project. It is a
good publicity piece for events and some schools
distribute them (or their own version) to
seniors.
Thoughts from Melissa Everett...
See also below a letter from Melissa, to whom
some of you spoke last year, which contains some
good ideas she culled from her conversations
with you. She is Executive Director of the
Sustainable Careers Institute and last year
phoned organizers to chat about their efforts.
Sign up for the GradPledge
Listserv... if you are not yet on it.
It is a forum for pledge organizers to share
good ideas and ask questions of each other. The
traffic is very light (too light given its
potential benefits), and you automatically
receive the digest version. So it's never more
than one combined message daily, no matter how
many postings are made. Let us know if you are
interested.
Connect with Earth Day... Think about
hosting a public event, beyond what you do at
graduation, surrounding Earth Day in late April.
Two years ago we instituted the "Graduation
Pledge Alliance Day of Action and Awareness" and
a number of folks around the country became
involved. While the Pledge deals with more than
just environmental responsibility, Earth Day
worked well as a rallying point because of its
campus visibility. There are various
possibilities: your activities could focus just
on the Pledge, or on the broader concern of
social and environmental responsibility in the
workplace, with the Pledge being a component of
that. Some examples:
- a day for Pledge sign-ups
- a relevant
speech/workshop/discussion
- getting faculty to
discuss the Pledge in their classes
- a display in a prominent
place--perhaps where Earth Day activities are
already going on
- a reception or other
event for Pledge signers
- a day of service--or
something more action-oriented
Try to get good campus publicity and local
media coverage. If there is no Earth Day
celebration on your campus, you may need to
publicize Earth Day itself. Publicity and media
should help raise consciousness on
responsibility issues, make the Pledge more
accepted on campus, and maybe lead to more
sign-ups and volunteers to help with organizing.
Let us know if you do anything that day
Good luck,
Neil
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
The Pledge of
Social and Environmental Responsibility |
To: The Graduating
Class of 2004: |
|
ENDORSERS
A Cappella Choir
Accounting Club
Alpha Phi Omega
Aurora
BACCHUS
Campus Ministry
.....Board
Choral Society
East Hall Council
Environmental Action
.....Group
Fellowship of Christian
.....Athletes
Graver Hall Council
Habitat for Humanity
Holman Hall Council
Hispanic Undoes
Inter-Collegiate
.....Ministry
Kenapocomoco
.....Coalition
Manchester Activities
.....Council
Manchester College
.....Faculty
MC International
.....Assoc.
Manchester Forensics
.....Club
Manchester Singers
Modern Language
.....Club
Oak Leaves
Oakwood Hall Council
Peace Studies
..... Institute
Schwalm Hall Council
Simply Brethren
Spartanettes
Staff Association
Student Alumni
.....Council
Student Education
.....Association
Women's Spirituality
.....Circles |
Students at many
colleges and universities nationwide
have recognized the Graduation Pledge of
Social and Environmental Responsibility.
It reads:
"I pledge to explore and take
into account the social and
environmental consequences of any job I
consider and will try to improve these
aspects of any organizations for which I
work.”
Whether you take the pledge is
voluntary. It allows people to determine
for themselves what they consider to be
environmentally and socially
responsible.
Different universities have had
different levels of official
administrative and faculty participation
in supporting the pledge and in having
recognition of the pledge be an official
part of the graduation ceremony. For
example, at Humboldt State University
tables have been placed near the
graduation stage for students to
voluntarily sign the pledge.
Manchester College started supporting
the pledge in 1988, a year after its
inception at Humboldt State University.
In 1996 Manchester became the
headquarters for the Graduation Pledge
Alliance (GPA), the national pledge
effort, which further emphasizes
Manchester's leadership. Over the years,
typically 50 percent of students have
worn green ribbons at commencement in
recognition of the pledge. To our
knowledge, Manchester was the first to
wear ribbons, and now most other
colleges and universities do also. In
addition, a note in the program
describes the pledge and explains why
students, faculty, and staff are wearing
the ribbons. For those who wish to
participate, decorative certificates
will be available (to keep) at the upper
union desk during the week of finals, if
not before. Participants should also
sign and keep the small wallet card
received with this mailing, to serve as
a reminder of their commitment. There is
no need to hand any of the materials
back.
We have recognized that the pledge
can be supported by anyone who wants to
be intentional about the responsibility
of his or her employment. It is our hope
that your support of the pledge will
contribute to the cooperative effort to
build responsible citizenship for a
sustainable world. The pledge is a
serious commitment and MC pledge signers
have taken actions such as turning down
jobs they did not feel ethically
comfortable with (and letting their
potential employers know why); promoting
environmentally friendly efforts while
on the job; or in one case, an alumna
talked with her employer and a potential
chemical weapons contract was not
accepted.
Please do not sign the pledge card or
wear a green ribbon on graduation day
unless you intend to fulfill the
commitment.
Volunteers will be present prior
to morning baccalaureate and afternoon
commencement to hand out green ribbons
and pins to those graduates who endorse
the pledge, as well as to supportive
faculty members. Your wearing a
ribbon will make a public
statement of your intent to consider the
well-being of the world and its
inhabitants both when you consider job
possibilities and after you are on the
job.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Pledge
coordinators and community:
I have talked with
some of you in the course of reaching
out to help campus Pledge campaigns hit
their stride and really make a
difference this year. There is a lot of
skill, energy and commitment out there!
I wanted to share a
few thoughts about successful Pledge
organizing that have become clear so
far.
1. It's essential
to make the outreach personal -- flyers
alone do not create changes of heart or
commitment. Peer to peer outreach –
better known as talking to your friends
-- is what creates a movement.
2. In many cases,
the initial proposal to the
administration, to integrate the Pledge
into commencement is not fully accepted.
It can be useful to find other ways to
work with senior administration, that
they view as lower-risk. Bring in an
inspiring speaker on socially
responsible careers and ask your
president or provost to do the welcoming
remarks. Create an annual award for an
alum who embodies socially responsible
career values, and invite a senior
administrator to present the award.
Create a campus advisory group and get
some of those folks, as well as faculty,
onto it.
3. Think of this as
much more than a stance for the already
committed activist community. Hunger for
ethical employers is widespread, and
social responsibility issues are finding
their way into business classes. One
faculty advisor to a Pledge campaign
belatedly realized that this topic was a
perfect match for the business ethics
class she ALREADY teaches. Another
student leader
realized that she could involve her
classmates in the PUBLIC RELATIONS
program in creating outreach strategies.
Look for opportunities under your nose.
4. The Pledge is
not just a graduation statement - it's a
device for
sparking widespread
questioning and exploration of what your
life is worth and what kinds of work
situations fit with your values. There
are probably dozens of classes and clubs
that would be receptive to an invitation
to have a Pledge speaker with
discussion, sooner rather than later in
the semester.
5. Finally, involve
your career development center. They
love to be useful and often have lots of
insights about how to implement the
commitment of the Pledge.
These are just a
few preliminary thoughts. I have a big
pile of phone numbers, and copies of
correspondence that many of you have had
with Neil Wollman. In this outreach
project, I'm dialing you in fairly
random order. Please feel free to email
me with any specific questions, or to
let me know best times to reach you so
that I can talk to more inspiring Pledge
activists and fewer voicemails.
Have a great
semester!
Melissa Everett
Executive Director
Sustainable Careers
Institute |
