Earth Jam(nesty): Unity in Our Community Will Kick Off Lafayette’s Celebration of Earth Week April 15-22

Students gather on the Quad during last year's Earth Day celebration.

The Earth Jam(nesty): Unity in Our Community event will kick off this year’s Earth Week celebration from 4-7 p.m. Friday, April 15, on the Quad.

The campus-wide gathering will include live music and dance performances, free food, family activities, and displays on social justice. It will showcase Lafayette’s strength as a community and celebrate the best things about the College community: its passion, drive, and unity. The rain location is Kamine Gym.

Earth Week, which runs April 15-22, will incorporate many different aspect of the environmental movement, such as biodiversity, water issues, art, religion, and local concerns. Events will include lectures, panel discussions, a sustainable picnic, and a sustainable vendor fair.

“Earth Week is about inclusiveness,” says Christopher Kelly ’13 (Boyertown, Pa.), president of Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP). “Environmentalism in the past has been portrayed as centering on a singular issue or being a ‘fringe’ hippie-type operation. The past 10 to 20 years have seen the evolution of this ideology into an entity that has transcended typical definitions. Green has become about jobs, religious stewardship, clean drinking water, and human rights. While it’s true that many endeavors still focus on recycling, composting, climate change, and pollution, the umbrella has expanded tremendously. This week is a celebration of the Earth’s wonders, as well as a call to action, a broad-based referendum on the challenges still remaining.”

Earth Week events are sponsored by LEAP, the Earth Week 2011 Committee, the Lafayette College Sustainability Committee, the English department, the VAST/Environmental Studies initiative, the Muslim Student Organization, Interfaith Council, Engineers Without Borders, and the Society of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

Earth Week Schedule:

Friday, April 15

• 4-7 p.m., The Quad-Earth Jam(nesty): Unity in Our Community

Monday, April 18: Artists and Stewards

• Noon, Hugel Science Center room 103-Rajesh Shah ’84 will discuss his work with Peer Water Exchange, his time at Lafayette, water sanitation, and broader environmental issues
• 7 p.m., Oechsle Hall room 224-Poet Marilyn McEntyre will present “Caring for Words: Strategies of Subversive Stewardship”

Tuesday, April 19: Innovation in Environmental Topics

• 9:30 a.m., Oechsle Hall room 224-Local Farmer Panel: Organic, Sustainable, Traditional, etc.
• 12:15 p.m., Hogg Hall Interfaith Chapel-Religion’s Role in Environmental Stewardship
• 7 p.m., Oechsle Hall room 224-Daniel Klem Jr., Sarkis Acopian Professor of Ornithology and Conservation Biology at Muhlenberg College, will speak on bird mortality at windows

Wednesday, April 20: Water, Water, Everywhere…

• Noon, Oechsle Hall room 224-Artist Stacy Levy on local environmental art
• 7 p.m., Hugel Science Center room 103-Charles Vorosmarty, professor of civil engineering with the City College of New York. will present “Water for a Crowded Planet: Lessons from the Northeastern United States”

Thursday, April 21: Global to Local: Sustainability Near and Far

• 12:15 p.m., Hugel Science Center room 103-Arsenic Groundwater Remediation in India presentation by John Greenleaf, visiting assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering
• 4:30-7:30 p.m., the Quad-Dining Services Sustainable Picnic
• 4:15 p.m., Kirby Hall of Civil Rights room104-David Smith, director of professional development at the Da Vinci Science Center, presents “Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling: A Primer”

Friday, April 22: Earth Day

• Noon, Hugel Science Center room 103-Lafayette sustainability initiatives
• 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Farinon College Center-Sustainable Vendor Fair