Lancer Launchpad
Senior year, Fall 2022:
My last fall at Longwood University, this was my last honors class and I loved it. I was able to explore my knowledge and skills by making connections with those in the Longwood community. This was a hard semester for me. I had a lot going on with Student Government Association and to be frank I was not focused on school at all during most of this class. I was seriously worried about the social environment on campus, considering the events that happened at UVA. A school that is an hour away from home.
Once I finally was at a stable point dealing with club responsibilities I was able to really get back into the content of the course. We started a semester-long group project on a topic that we could pick and either work on alone or with a group. Rebecca, Canaan, and I started working on a sustainability project. At first, we wanted it to be glass waste because glass waste on campus within a small town is very costly. Especially since the town does not have the resources to recycle glass without transporting it to Lynchburg or Richmond. However, we were having a very hard time agreeing on what the final goal would be. During this time we also had Brady joining our group, and then I got the flu immediately after. Then my group made the change to try to broaden our scope and be more inclusive of more possibilities. We looked into the office of sustainability where there used to be programs and interns in place for the support and advocacy of the university but that soon fizzled out with COVID money cuts. We had a zoom phone call with Sherry Swinson, Executive Director of Baliles and Hull Springs Center and she answered some questions for us.
Our final conclusions were that there were no active attempts to further the investment into sustainable practices at Longwood University. There was a sustainability committee that met and was active after the past governor attempted to revamp sustainability laws on one-use practices in public schools. This was during COVID-19 and everything was on zoom. There also was a program called the Green Lancer program. This program was based on points and gifts of reusable cups, utensils, etc. We found a way to rework the green lancer program and make it into a one-week event on campus that could be coordinated by the sustainability committee and office if they chose to continue their meetings. I have attached the PowerPoint as my reflection. This PowerPoint was our final project for symposium day and outline exactly how we would execute Green Lancer week at Longwood University. Now we need support and assistance from the faculty and staff to make it happen!
Click here for my artifact my final group presentation.
Artifact details: Name; Davice Jones, Rebecca Mills, and Canaan Key, and Brady Hurlich. Date; (11/25/2022), and Title: Green Lancer Days.