A liberal arts college like Franklin and Marshall boasts an opportunity for students to experience several disciplines. No clue what you want to do? No problem—you really can get a taste of everything.
For Nora Theodore ’13, no floundering was necessary. Nora immediately immersed herself in the sustainability movement that is fervently growing at Franklin and Marshall.
As president of Environmental Action Alliance (EAA), Nora organizes and runs meetings while fostering relations with other groups, faculty, and professors on campus to accomplish the goals of EAA. The members of the alliance intend to get students involved and excited about living sustainable by educating students on ways to conserve and preserve the environment. The club runs the Fair Trade Café once a week, providing a sustainable, organic, and local meal to students in order to raise awareness about the importance of food choices in relation to the environment.
Much of the Nora’s and the club’s work this semester has very recently culminated in Sustainability Week 2011, a five day event geared to educating students on what they can do to live sustainably and as a steward to the environment. Each day of the school week focused on a different aspect of the environment: food, water, economy, energy, and waste.
The EAA and the Wohlsen Center—where Nora is employed—are the two main contributors and organizers of the event, putting Nora in the driver’s seat for much of the planning that went into the successful week of environmental activities. Along with the Wohlsen Center and EAA, Nora is on the Sustainability Task Force and the secretary of the Earth and Environment society. Needless to say, she is at the forefront of the environmental movement that is taking place at F&M.
Her success with her club involvement is no doubt a result of her assuredness in her goals and interests when she arrived to F&M two years ago.
“I took a year off before coming to F&M and spent some time in the Western US, which really solidified my interests in environmental protection,” said Nora. She encourages other students to “do what they love” and get involved on campus, because when one does so, “you get the best possible rewards from your college experience.”
A constant crusader for the environment, Nora is full of advice for living sustainably.
“Living sustainably is EASY and FUN; it’s not a hassle,” said Nora. “Doing little things that can reduce your impact is extremely rewarding and can make you feel better as a person.”
Nora’s impact on our campus is obvious in the transition of F&M to that of a more sustainable campus community. Her excitement about environmental issues is contagious, a definite driving factor for much of the sustainable change that F&M is experiencing.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at F and M chapter.