Sustainable Creighton About Us
Mission
The Office of Sustainability Programs (OSP) guides the implementation of sustainable practices and programs on campus and serves as a hub for collaboration among students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, our local neighbors, and global partners so we can work together toward a more sustainable present and future in Omaha and afar.
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Kari Costello
Vice Provost for Global Engagement – SGC Co-Chair
Champion: Sustainable Waste Management
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Andrew Baruth
Director of the Office of Sustainability Programs – SGC Co-Chair
Champion: Sustainability Across the Curriculum
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Eric Baldwin, DMin
Vice Provost, Student Life
Champion: IRHG Eco-Rep Program
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John Jesse
Treasurer of Creighton University
Champion: Sustainable Commuting and Travel
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Derek Scott
Associate Vice President for Facilities Management
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Sarah Richardson
Assistant Vice Provost for Enrollment Management
Champion: Sustainability Focused Tours
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Dan DiLeo
Associate Professor and Director of the Justice and Peace Studies Program
Champion: Advocacy for climate, energy, and other ecological policies
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Rick Davis
Director of Campus Communications
Champion: Sustainable Creighton Office Certification Program, Fundamentals of Sustainable Living Certification
Sustainable Creighton Initiative
The Sustainable Creighton Initiative (SCI) is a plan for accelerated impact to the planet’s most demanding issues. The goals are intentionally focused on greenhouse gas emission reduction, waste diversion, education and co-curricular engagement.
Andrew G. Baruth, BS, PhD
- Director, Office of Sustainability Programs
- 402.280.2644
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Becky Crowell
- CSSAF Coordinator
- 402.280.1839
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April Thompson
- Project and Reporting Coordinator
- 402.280.2606
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Office of Sustainability Student Representatives
Our student staff provides valuable support to carry out the mission of our office that carries the message of sustainable living throughout the Creighton campus environment.
AmeriCorps Student Directors and Service Focus Areas:
Caden Collins (Scope 3 Emissions Coordinator)
Leah Keator (Sustainable Transportation Coordinator)
Leah McEvoy (Eco-Reps and Waste Diversion Coordinator)
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Sustainability Timeline at Creighton
A timeline of sustainability at Creighton under the Office of Sustainability Programs is below.
- 2024: Creighton University partnered with Plastilite to establish Expandable Polystyrene (EPS) collection for recycling
- 2023: Creighton University earns STARS Silver rating improving from 2018 Bronze
- 2023: The Office of Sustainability Programs adds a project and reporting coordinator
- 2022: The Sustainable Creighton Initiative was launched with 17 unique goals for Creighton to enhance its sustainability
- 2021: The Office of Sustainability Programs launches the Creighton Student Sustainability Action Fund
- 2021: Creighton becomes a Laudato Si’ University by committing to participate in the Seven Year Journey Toward Integral Ecology of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
- 2020: Composting begins on campus 2020 Creighton commits to divesting from fossil fuel holdings
- 2019: Creighton partners with Catholic Climate Covenant to co-sponsor the biennial “Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church: A Conference Series on Our Common Home.” 2020 Creighton hires the first director of sustainability
- 2019: Creighton students organize “Silence for the Climate” demonstration that calls the University to three actions: 1) Divest the endowment from all holdings in fossil fuel companies, 2) set a more ambitious carbon neutrality goal than that of 2050, and 3) make climate change education a requirement for all students. CSU referendum 19–02 calling for fossil fuel divestment passed with 85.6% support.
- 2019: Creighton President, the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, forms the Sustainable Governance Committee and the Climate Change Task Force.
- 2018: The Schlegel Center for Service and Justice (SCSJ) and Office of Sustainable Programs (OSP) collaborate to create virtual environmental justice orientations
- 2018: Patrick Marta, 2018 CSU president, spearheads a campaign titled Referendum 2SI (2 Sustainability Initiatives), which approved two student government initiatives: phasing out plastic bags on campus (passed with 88% of the vote) and phasing out plastic straws on campus (passed with 81% of the vote)
- 2018: Creighton President, the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, signs two presidential commitments: the Catholic Climate Declaration and the St. Francis/Laudato Si’ Pledge
- 2018: Creighton earns Bronze STARS rating. Before 2018, dedicated staff and faculty worked together to submit a STARS report without a rating; in 2018, their work was memorialized with Creighton’s first STARS rating of Bronze.
- 2017: Global Engagement Office funds the Planetary Emergency Lecture Series
- 2017: Sustainability is integrated into the Creighton 150 Strategic Plan: Lighting the Way, under Living Our Mission and Global Partnerships
- 2017: Creighton establishes the Office of Sustainability Programs and hires its first full-time sustainability coordinator.
How to Reach Us
Email:
sustainability@creighton.edu
Location:
Creighton Hall 333
