Villanova University Celebrates Earth Week 2024
VILLANOVA, Pa. (April 15, 2024)—Villanova University is set to host a series of lectures, events and community service activities in celebration of Earth Week 2024. Sponsored by the Office for Sustainability in Mission and Ministry, Earth Week is an opportunity to celebrate our planet as well as critically examine our relationships with the natural environment.
Activities begin on Tuesday, April 16, and continue through Saturday, April 27. For a full listing of University Earth Week events, please visit the University’s Sustainability website.
Earth Week Event Highlights
- On Thursday, April 18, at 2 p.m., Villanova’s Augustinian counterpart, Merrimack College, will host a virtual fireside chat titled, “Ecological Virtues for a Time Such as This.” The lecture is the second in a two-part series and is a follow-up to Villanova’s previous talk, “Exploring Climate Anxiety through the Lens of Laudate Deum.”
- On Monday, April 22, at 4:30 p.m., a virtual lecture titled “The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation,” will be given by Adam Rome, PhD, Professor in the Department of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Buffalo. The lecture will be hosted by Villanova’s Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest.
- This year’s keynote address, “Hotter, Wetter, Weirder—Climate Change in Philadelphia,” will be delivered by Michael Weilbacher, former Executive Director of the Schuylkill Environmental Education Center, on Wednesday, April 24, at 5:30 p.m. in the Connelly Cinema.
- The annual Sustainability Fair will take place on Wednesday, April 24, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Connelly Plaza. The Fair will feature vendors, student research, activities from the Student Sustainability Committee, giveaways and more.
- On Thursday, April 25, the Rev. John Abubakar, OSA, PhD, Villanova’s Chief Sustainability Officer, will be available for a sustainability chat and meet-and-greet beginning at 3 p.m. in the St. Rita’s Hall Community Room.
Sustainability at Villanova University: In 2007, Villanova University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. In 2018, the Villanova Sustainability Leadership Council was established to develop a 10-year actionable and measurable plan to guide the University’s comprehensive effort to support the planet and its people and to ensure prosperity for all. By committing the University to the Laudato Si Action Platform and developing a customized Laudato Si’ Plan, Villanova University is taking decisive and unflinching action to build a better future. At the core of all sustainability activities, both large and small, is the University’s vision to establish an ethos of sustainable living. As an Augustinian Catholic institution, Villanova is committed to generating and advocating sustainable action to help create a future that provides enough, for all, forever.
About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation’s top universities, Villanova supports its students’ intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.