Only four students nationwide earned honorable mention in the inaugural Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Student Sustainability Achievement Award competition. One of them was Ithaca College’s Anna Day ’08; she received the award during AASHE’s first conference, held in October.

“I am greatly honored and somewhat surprised,” says Day. “Sustainability is so much a part of my day-to-day life that I don’t see it as ‘going above and beyond.’ It is part of my course of study, my job, and what I often spend my free time working toward. It’s just important to me to think about and care for the future.”

Anna Day '08 received an AASHE award.

Day, who is majoring in environmental studies, has been a driving force in mobilizing student support for improving the environment and advancing Ithaca College’s position as a leader in campus sustainability.

“Anna embodies the Ithaca College ethos that ‘character is developed when competence is exercised for the benefit of others,’ ” says Peter Bardaglio, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Her work on sustainability here has inspired all of us who care about the generations that will follow and who are committed to promoting, in the words of our mission statement, ‘the responsibilities of citizenship and service in the global community.’ ”

A founding member of Students for Sustainability, Day led the drive for IC to commit to the principles and actions of the Talloires Declaration (ICQ 2006/2, “President Signs Talloires”). She helped plan and run the Sustainability Summit, Campus Sustainability Day, and Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival. A member of the Ithaca College Environmental Society and a representative on the Student Government Association, she was instrumental in the formation of a Sustainability Committee, which helped change policy to make double-sided printing the norm for jobs printed in the College print shop.

Among her many other projects, Day helped to create a sustainability-themed living residence floor (ICQ 2006/2, “Custom Homes”), worked with Dining Services to minimize food waste, and helped compile, write, and edit the College’s Positive Growth Report, which chronicles the myriad sustainability advances being made on campus.

AASHE is an association of 150 U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities working to create a sustainable future. It was founded last year to promote sustainability in all sectors of higher education. AASHE defines sustainability in an inclusive way, encompassing human and ecological health, social justice, secure livelihoods, and a better world for all generations.