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In his talk, Hewitt used the United Nations’ definition for sustainable development: “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” He said sustainability at CSUF encompasses everyone’s daily activities – teaching, research, purchasing, transportation, buildings, energy use, water usage, land, dining facilities and waste management.

If he has his way, sustainability and the individual actions required to support it will be an everyday occurrence at Cal State Fullerton and beyond. A professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Hewitt regularly takes his students on hikes in wilderness areas to show them natural environments. He also chairs the Academic Senate and is head of its Ad Hoc Sustainability Committee, which has recommended that the university institutionalize sustainability. The committee’s Sustainability Report issued in November notes a number of campus activities now supporting sustainability, and challenges the campus to do even more. It notes that:

• At least 53 courses in 14 different departments presently incorporate sustainability;
• Lighting, heating and cooling systems have been upgraded;
• Electric vehicles have replaced campusoperated, gas-powered cars; and
• About 16 percent of the university’s energy comes from alternative or green sources.

“Our aim is to make sustainability a university goal,” Hewitt says. Indeed, President Milton A. Gordon listed sustainability as a university priority in his December 2007 State of the University address. This priority is not lost on prospective students. Research shows that college freshmen rank campus sustainability as a key concern when choosing an institution. “CSUF’s efforts toward sustainability are consistent with our educational mission and demonstrate that we are proactive regarding the potential impact our campus and its community may have on the environment,” President Gordon says.

At Cal State Fullerton, the state’s fastest-growing campus, “living green” is a long tradition. In the early 1970s, Professor Barry Thomas and his students built a geodesic dome – a symbol of sustainable architecture – near the Engineering and Computer Science buildings. Classes were held there, and “One World” was etched onto the concrete slab.

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Professor Scott Hewitt, en route to his lecture on sustainability at Fullerton College, chairs the Academic Senate and is head of its Ad Hoc Sustainability Committee. Hewitt ran from Cal State Fullerton to his talk to prove that sustainability begins with each individual, one step at a time.