During the week of April 18, the Holy Family University community participated in several meaningful events to recognize Earth Week. The week of activity culminated in a talk by a young climate activist, Elsa Mengistu, a strategist and visionary within the social impact industry and the environmental justice movement, to a full auditorium that included students from Nazareth Academy High School.
The Earth Week events also included the groundbreaking of the University’s newest campus green space, the Reflection Garden, in the pathway between the library and the Education and Technology Center. The Reflection Garden was presented by the University faculty and students as a gift to President Anne Prisco during Inauguration Week.
The events corresponded with the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ action platform. The intention of Laudato Si’ is to lead the world sustainability in the spirit of integral ecology. The week of special events reminded the Holy Family University community that with profound care for each other, our Creator, and all creation, we are building a better future together.
The Earth Week committee was chaired by Shannon Brown ’00, executive director of Library Services, Elizabeth Carroll, Ph.D., assistant professor of Biology, and Don Goeltz, Ph.D., associate professor of business. The committee included members of the faculty, staff, and students.
Sister Rita Fanning, CSFN, ’89, vice president of Mission and Diversity, said “Earth Week was a wonderful start to our commitment to the papal encyclical, Laudato Si’, as the University addresses social issues as well as climate change.”