Oakland University's Preservation & Growing Initiatives

A stream rushes behind Hillcrest Hall on Oakland University’s Campus. Photo Courtesy of Rhiannon Galloway.

Centers and student-led organizations are presently working to preserve and better the biological preserves and the general environment on campus. These preserves serve a vital role as living laboratories for teaching and learning for students, professors, and professionals alike.

Sustainability has been a priority of Oakland University since the late 1970s, beginning with academic programs and building into institutional sustainability efforts. With this in mind, Oakland University’s students are also banding together and creating a rich and vibrant community around OU’s environment.

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  Daffodils sprouting on Oakland University's campus. Photo courtesy of Rhiannon Galloway.

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  A fallen tree stretches across a creek behind Hillcrest Hall. Photo courtesy of Rhiannon Galloway

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  A leaf lays delicately upon the grass. Photo courtesy of Rhiannon Galloway.

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  Tall grasses frame the creek. Photo courtesy of Rhiannon Galloway.

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  Stream behind Hillcrest Hall. Photo courtesy of Rhiannon Galloway.

The university expressed in August of 2021 via a letter from the editor in the Oakland Post, that “our shared vision begins with the belief that our present moment demands more than just efforts to recycle and reduce energy consumption.” They also stand by innovation in the sense that “we must also encourage new ways of thinking and living that will allow us to develop more sustainable relationships, cultivate renewable habits, and generate new values that reflect our desire for a more just and habitable world for everyone.”

The initiatives of the late 1970’s were sparked by student activism of the early 1970’s and student groups such as RESTORE. These organizations’ primary focus was pollution and reducing it on campus. They organized teach-ins and arranged pollution pick-up teams to help reduce, reuse, and recycle. The Kammer Recreation Trust Fund bill (later the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund) in 1976 was also passed to improve the sustainability of Universities and, ideally, across the environment as a whole. After the initiatives took root and started making lasting positive impacts, awareness rose and inspired more initiatives.

Currently, initiatives and student-led organizations are thriving and still working towards a better on-campus experience. One organization in particular, the “Save Bear Lake” initiative, focuses on its namesake. They plan to gather volunteers from around campus to donate their time and labor to cleaning out and around our bear lake; it also partially exists as a way to raise awareness for our on-campus installations that need to be kept free of litter and pollution.

When students find like-minded peers and friends to work toward a common cause, it betters our community and, through togetherness, improves the individual as well. Understanding the importance of speaking out and organizing for causes like these is important to building better and sustainable communities that are capable of growth and positive change.