August 2021

University Community Partnerships

Photo by J. Adam Fenster

Gandhi Institute

The Gandhi Institute is a Rochester nonprofit that underscores the value of nonviolence in creating a sustainable world for all. They partner with local organizations, academic institutions, students, and committed peacemakers to promote nonviolent education, environmental sustainability, restorative practices, and racial justice. While prioritizing its programming for youth and groups who work with youth, the Institute regularly offers groups and individuals training in areas such as nonviolent communication, meditation, cultural humility, and experiential interconnectedness, all while fostering responses to systemic violence in the Rochester area through projects focused on urban agriculture, racial healing, and restorative approaches to conflict. The University's partnership with the Gandhi Institute includes the valuable volunteer work of both undergraduate and graduate students. Read more about the partnership here.

Center for Community Engagement

The Center for Community Engagement is dedicated to fostering a relationship with the Greater Rochester community through collaborative leadership among students, faculty, staff, and community partners. These partnerships help to unveil transformative solutions and create equitable change for all. Operating out of the Office of the Dean for Students, this group is dedicated to supporting students who are striving to have a positive impact on our community.

Ohio State University Evergreen Cooperatives

The Columbus, Ohio-based Evergreen Cooperative Initiative is working to create living-wage jobs in six low-income neighborhoods in an area known as the University Circle. Its focus is on economic inclusion and building a local economy from the ground up. Paying special attention to the Columbus community, the Evergreen Cooperative Initiative creates jobs then recruits and trains community members to fill the positions.

Michigan State University Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Michigan State University’s Partnerships for Sustainable Development works with communities at an international level to support local livelihoods. This partnership was established with the intention of improving the livelihoods of communities across the globe while also generating knowledge about the development process. 

Green Reads from around the Web

• You can help your favorite restaurant go disposable-free. Here’s how. (Upstream)
• Support immigrants beyond food (Anti-Racism Daily)
• Does systemic racism in sustainable fashion exist? (Pebble Magazine)
• ‘Potentially the worst drought in 1,200 years’: scientists on the scorching US heatwave (The Guardian)
• The places still targeting ‘Zero COVID’ (The Atlantic)
• Pacific Northwest heat wave is literally melting infrastructure (Gizmodo)
• Amazon rainforest now emitting more CO2 than it absorbs (The Guardian)

Events & Announcements

Photo by J Adam Fenster

Riverside Clean Up

Thursday August 12, 4PM, Interfaith Chapel

For our upcoming summer quarterly event, we will be doing a riverside clean up. All of the necessary equipment will be provided, so all you need to do is show up! We will be meeting at the Interfaith Chapel. Please email us by August 9 to RSVP. 

August Eyeglass Collection 👓

University Facilities and Services is collecting eyeglasses this month to be recycled. They are partnering with the Lions Eye Bank at Rochester, and the glasses will be sent to the Lions Club. There, program volunteers clean, sort, and package the glasses. Usable glasses are then sent to those in need, mostly in developing countries.

Drop off your glasses at the Flaum Eye Institute, located at G3070 in the Medical Center or use intra-office mail to send your glasses in a box or envelope to

University Mail Services

Box 270001

Rochester, NY 14627-0001

For more information, check out the flier or email Amy Kadrie.

Wanted: New Working Group Member

Alumni Spotlight 🌟

 Brian Conlon ‘08

 For our spring quarterly event, we had the opportunity to meet with University alumnus, Brian Conlon (‘08), and discuss his short story “The Day It Snowed in San Diego.” During the event, we had the chance to discuss climate change, experiences during the pandemic, and Brian’s inspiration for this story. 

While at Rochester, Brian studied creative writing with Joanna Scott and continued to study creative writing at Harvard Law School with Amy Hempel and Rose Moss. Since law school, Brian has published three novellas and nineteen short stories in various literary magazines, including The Montreal Review, The Writing Disorder, and Lowestoft Chronicle. “The Day It Snowed in San Diego” was originally published in the Winter 2012 edition of Precipitate (now Newfound), an online literary journal based in Austin, Texas.

Your Green Reps Challenge for August

Try to implement at least one of these action items in your area this month:

1. Looking for a way to get outdoors and practice sustainability? RSVP for the riverside clean up!
2. Do you have extra glasses at home? Participate in the August Eyeglass Collection.
3. Are you interested in being a member of the working group? Email us to let us know!