Campus Green Builder

The history of the Menominee tribe begins at the mouth of the Menominee River, a mere 60 miles east of the present Menominee Indian Reservation. This is where the five clans were created: Bear, Eagle, Wolf, Moose, and Crane. For over 10,000 years, the Menominee way of life has been derived from the natural environment. The Menominee have long been recognized for their achievements in sustainable forest management practice and understanding of the social, ecological, and ethical practices and responsibilities in sustaining natural resources for future generations. Following this understanding, since inception the College of Menominee Nation has strove to align its vision with the sustainability principles.¹

Principles of sustainability are central to the institution’s mission. To investigate sustainability principles from the Menominee perspective, in 1993 the Sustainable Development Institute was founded to promote the efforts to sustain nature, culture, traditions, values, society, and people. The Institute has the directive to guide the Menominee Nation in exploring and enhancing the relationship of the Menominee to sustainability, integrating sustainability into the curricular decisions and offering experiential, research and professional learning opportunities to its students.

In addition, the Operations Department manages the “build environment” of the campus. The administration understands and values the importance of the involvement of the entire campus community in the development and learning process and seeks expertise within the faculty and staff to promulgate and advance sustainability and green building initiatives.

Green Initiatives on Campus

College of Menominee nation implements many sustainability efforts influencing not only the campus community but also the surrounding community and the Menominee tribe. Following are the steps taken by the institution that evidence its commitment to holistic sustainability.

• The Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service, promotes sustainability through education, research and community engagement. Two important academic focuses are Sustainable Development and Sustainable Forestry but the institute also offers professional development courses, workshops, trainings, and certifications in sustainability.²
• Basic Education for Sustainable Development general education mandatory course for all students.
• Strategies for Environmental Education, Development and Sustainability (SEEDS) sells a unique blend of fair trade, organic, shade-grown, and bird-friendly coffee to the CMN community.³ The coffee sales are used to support the farmers in Chiapas as well as the local SEEDS chapter as they undertake other environmentally based projects throughout the academic year.⁴
• CMN students have also participated in national sustainability competitions such as National Wildlife Federation’s National Chill Out and Recyclemania as well as Great Lakes Earth Day Challenge sponsored by the EPA.
• The institution also performs recycling, garbage stream, carbon footprint/concentration analysis as well as taking a close look at transportation effect on campus.
• The Sustainability Coordinator assembled a Campus Sustainability Advisory Group, composed of faculty, staff, students and community members, to serve as a support group to help gain commitments from the various departments and staff on the issues of sustainability.

Sustainability Commitment

Following the footsteps of the Menominee tribe, the institution fosters a great commitment in all aspects of sustainability living, forestation, capital improvement and development. College of Menominee Nation is one of the first signatories of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). It also retains a Sustainability Coordinator who monitors the college’s greenhouse gas emissions and is in the process of benchmarking the campus sustainability indicators in an effort to identify, prioritize, and improve the campus sustainability.

In addition to the role the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) plays in campus sustainability and promoting sustainability through education, research, and community engagement, other initiatives such as the Sustainable Building and the Sustainable Trades Programs also offer new avenues for learning.

¹ Sharing Indigenous Wisdom. "Who We Are." Retrieved September 2, 2009.
² Pember, Mary Annette. "Tribal Peoples’ Worldviews Preceded ‘Green’ Trend." Tribal College Journal, Volume 20 No. 2. Winter 2008.
³ Pember, Mary Annette. "Tribal Peoples’ Worldviews Preceded ‘Green’ Trend." Tribal College Journal, Volume 20 No. 2. Winter 2008.
⁴ Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. "College of Menominee Nation 2008 Campus Sustainability Leadership Award Application." Retrieved September 2, 2009.