Mike Kensler, Author at Office of Sustainability

Director's Corner SDG11 SDG12 SDG17 SDG4

Sustainability’s Place in Higher Education

“The organizations that truly lead…will be those who convert sustainability challenges into compelling strategic opportunities.” ~ Peter Senge Mike and Aubie at the Sustainability Picnic. For years, I had a habit of checking sustainability job boards even when I was not seeking a new position. I recall seeing in the…

Mike KenslerApril 1, 2025

Director's Corner SDG16 SDG8

Ecology + Democracy = Sustainability

“A healthy democracy is as dependent on public life as a healthy ecosystem is dependent on clean air and water: in the absence of an engaged public, democracy begins to die, and some form of oligarchy (government by the few) emerges to take its place.” ~ Parker Palmer, Healing the Heart…

Mike KenslerSeptember 24, 2024

Director's Corner SDG16 SDG4

“Welcomed, Valued, Respected and Engaged”

“I will act as if what I do makes a difference.” ~ William James In the 1990s, I lived in Norfolk, Virginia. I exercised at a local YMCA and, as usual, I wore a ball cap from my alma mater (not Auburn). A guy who usually worked out at the…

Mike KenslerAugust 20, 2024

Director's Corner SDG13

Director’s Corner: Earth Day & a “new type of thinking”

“…a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels.” Albert Einstein In July of 1969, as he floated alone above the moon while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, Command Module pilot Michael Collins made this observation of the…

Mike KenslerApril 2, 2024

Director's Corner SDG3

Director’s Corner: What is a Health Promoting University?

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” World Health Organization. One of the most important outcomes of the COVID pandemic across the United States and beyond has been the realization that the health and well-being of people…

Mike KenslerJanuary 29, 2024

Director's Corner SDG11 SDG3

Director’s Corner: Sustainability Reflects “The Progress of the Human Mind”

“Sustainability is a non-negotiable yardstick against which all our actions, goals, and plans have to be measured.” Robert Costanza My favorite memorial or monument in Washington, D.C. is the Jefferson Memorial. It is a beautiful structure in a gorgeous setting, especially when cherry blossoms bloom in the spring. Photo Credit: Neal…

Mike KenslerSeptember 6, 2023

Director's Corner SDG11 SDG3 SDG9 Updates

Director’s corner: Green Certified Buildings Are Good For You!

“We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.” Winston Churchill The M. Miller Gorrie Center received LEED certification in 2008. Photo credit: Jen Morse. Modern humans in modern surroundings spend almost all of their time indoors. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), North Americans, on average, spend…

Mike KenslerApril 3, 2023

Director's Corner SDG13 SDG4 Updates

Director’s Corner: Warriors for the Human Spirit

“A Warrior for the Human Spirit is a decent human being who aspires to be of service in an indecent, inhumane time.” Margaret Wheatley, Who Do We Choose to Be? Effective individuals, leaders, teams, organizations, and societies practice a common discipline: the willingness and courage to, in the words of…

Mike KenslerJanuary 31, 2023

Director's Corner SDG13 SDG15

Director’s Corner: What we can learn from “Earthrise”

The Gift of Perspective Created on December 24, 1968 “To see the Earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats is to see ourselves as riders on the Earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold.” Archibald MacLeish,…

Mike KenslerDecember 2, 2022