The College of William and Mary chapter of Net Impact held a panel on sustainability April 19 as part of its weeklong Do One Thing campaign.
The panel included marketing professor Michael Luchs, art and art history professor Ed Pease and Education Programs Fellow Alexis Foxworth ’15. The panelists took questions from a moderator, the audience and each other on sustainability and its obstacles related to business, architecture, education and the daily lives of individuals.
“One thing that DOT tries to look at a little differently is it’s more about how can people do what they want to do and like to do and can we make that positive change continue and be sustainable,” moderator Benoit Mathieu ‘16 said.
One thing that DOT tries to look at a little differently is it’s more about how can people do what they want to do and like to do and can we make that positive change continue and be sustainable,” moderator Benoit Mathieu ‘16 said.
The panelists discussed different ways to promote sustainability and agreed that one of the most important aspects of sustainability is permanence.
“Sustainability means: how do we create a system that can perpetuate indefinitely?” Luchs said.
They also agreed that one of the ultimate goals of sustainability is to bring about change.
“[It’s] the opportunity to leave a legacy and make an impact in the community,” Foxworth said.
Net Impact is an undergraduate organization affiliated with the Mason School of Business dedicated to equipping students with the ability to bring about change in their future careers.
According to Net Impact President Yvette Yuan ’17, the DOT campaign is an annual event held by the group that challenges students to support sustainability in some way, no matter how small.
“In the past, it has mostly been literally campaigns close to the sunken gardens,” Yuan said. “We’d offer stickers, pins, small giveaways and then ask pledges of people … But this year, having a brand new exec board, they’re experimenting with different event types.”
Mathieu and Han Qiao ’19, the heads of the DOT campaign, decided that a panel would provoke more in-depth discussion and give students the opportunity to hear from experts in several fields. The panel was open to all students. Four, including Yuan and Qiao, were present.
“Attendance is probably an issue at this time this semester that we have envisioned,” Yuan said. “But overall, regardless of the people attending the event, this was a fruitful talk.”
Attendance is probably an issue at this time this semester that we have envisioned. But overall, regardless of the people attending the event, this was a fruitful talk,” Yuan said.
The weeklong campaign was also supposed to include a case competition about sustainability that would have been open to teams from the whole student body, but after deciding that other sustainability events on campus made the competition repetitive, the organizers cancelled it.
