Overview of BES Program

Clark Atlanta University's Environmental Justice Resource Center and the Interdenominational Theological Center's God's Earth Environmental Stewardship Council entered into a collaborative partnership to promote Building Environmental Stewardship (BES) throughout the Atlanta University Center. The small grant is funded for five years from the Department of Energy to the United Negro College Fund/Department of Environmental Education Program.

The following details a description of the project goals:

• Conduct a workshop for the faculty who are interested in establishing new courses and include students in the workshop for better dialogue;
• Sponsor Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities Lecture Series;
• Survey existing courses AUC-wide in the social and behavioral sciences, humanities, and physical and natural sciences for content;
• Develop environmental justice and sustainability modules for incorporation into existing course offerings;
• Commission papers and power point presentations by leading scholars and professors to address "cutting edge" environmental justice and sustainability principles; and
• Establish a clearinghouse to include information database, resource directories, guidebooks, bibliographies, and profiles of "model" student/community projects for distribution via the Internet.

 

Lecture Series

Each year we host at least two Environmental Justice Lecture Series which are open to community stakeholders, concerned citizens, faculty, students, government officials and the media.

Lecture Series I:

The very first lecture series was held on December 2, 1998 on the campus of Clark Atlanta University. Two national environmental experts, Dr. Robert D. Bullard and Dr. Beverly Wright spoke from the topic "Anatomy of Recent Victories Against Environmental Racism." Dr. Bullard and Dr. Wright presented their findings on two recent environmental justice victories in Louisiana, St. James Citizens for Jobs and the Environment vs. Shintech, Inc. and Citizens Against Nuclear Trash vs. Louisiana Energy Services.

Lecture Series II:

The second Lecture Series was held on the campus of the Interdenominational Theological Center during Chapel Service on February 23, 1999. It's purpose was to alert the community, academia, churches, and concerned citizens of the environmental concerns that faced by the city of Atlanta. The honored speaker who gave the Message of Challenge was Dr. Reuben Warren from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Lecture Series III:

This lecture was entitled: "The Costs and Consequences of Urban Sprawl: Equity Dimensions of Uneven Growth in Metro Atlanta" was given by Professor Robert Bullard and held on October 26, 2000.

Lecture Series IV:

In addition, we held another lecture series within the Atlanta University Center in collaboration with the Interdenominational Theological Center during their Chapel Service on March 9, 2000 and the featured speaker was Connie Raines, Director of the Environmental Justice & Community Liaison Program, from the Environmental Protection Agency. Ms. Raines spoke from the theme of "Keeping the Holy Trust with Stewardship."

 

Workshop

Originally, the BES Workshop was designed only for Atlanta University Center (Clark Atlanta University, Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, Morris Brown College and Spelman College) faculty interested in establishing new courses utilizing the train-the-trainer approach. Hence, we have modified the BES Workshop to include students as well in order to generate better dialogue between faculty and students.

The first BES Workshop was held on March 9, 1999. Dr. Robert Bullard shared on the following topic: "Environmental Justice: Strategies for Achieving Sustainable Communities. However, the second BES Workshop was held on March 9, 2000 and the intent of this workshop was to assist faculty from in integrating environmental resources from the internet into the curriculum. During this workshop the following things were achieved: (1) A Brief History and Overview of Environmental Justice was given by Dr. Robert Bullard; (2) Printed Resource Materials were shared by Dr. Glenn Johnson; (3) An In-depth EJRC Web Page Demonstration was given by Mr. Chad Johnson, Information Specialist; and, (4) excellent dialogue, discussion, and means of implementing all that was learned and shared into the curriculum.

AUC Environmental Justice Society

The AUC Environmental Justice Society developed due to a recommendation from a faculty member during our first BES Workshop. The organization was chartered in September of 1999 on the campus of Clark Atlanta University. It is hoped that in upcoming years, chartering will be occur on the remaining AUC Institutions. The AUC EJ Society has had several meetings and even sponsored a Career Empowerment Series for Black History Month featuring Lionel L. Brown, Diversity Manager, at the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to AUC students assisting neighboring community based organizations and participating in Earth Day Activities, the students are planning to both Adopt an Elementary School and Adopt-A-Stream.

Curriculum Survey

All faculty persons within the Atlanta University Center should download this survey and return it to the EJRC.

Dear Colleague:

We are currently surveying faculty to determine the extent to which environmental justice and/or sustainability modules are incorporated in the curriculum. At your convenience, please take the time to answer this survey and return it via fax (404) 880-6773, e-mail (ejrc@cau.edu) or campus mail (Box #141). Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

 

Name: ______________________________ Email address: _________________

Department: _________________________ Tel. Number: __________________

1. Currently, do you include any environmental justice and sustainability modules in course(s) that you teach?

Yes_______ No_______

1a.If so, how are you integrating these principles into your courses?

 

 

 

 

 

 

1b.If not, then why?

 

 

2. Would you like more information on environmental justice and sustainability issues? Yes_______ No_______

3. Would you like information about serving as a Building Environmental Stewardship faculty member for the 2000-2001 academic school year? Yes_______ No_______

Again, thank you for your time.

Education for Sustainability Training (EST) Workshop

Annually, the United Negro College Funds hosts a BES Conference bringing together all of the grant awardees from HBCU's/MI's. The 1998 Workshop was hosted by Clark Atlanta University from August 10 -12, 1998. The 1999 Workshop was hosted by our BES sister institution, Paine College from March 26 - 28, 1999.

BES Faculty and Student Scholars

1999 - 2000 Faculty Scholars

Institution	Name	Department
CAU	Dr. Barbara Brice	Allied Health
CAU	Dr. Bonita Flournoy	Curriculum
CAU	Dr. Mosunmola George-Taylor	Allied Health
CAU	Dr. Margaret Spriggs-Counts	Social Work
ITC	Rev. Kennith Board	Church Management
ITC	Dr. Carolyn A. Knight	Homiletics
ITC	Dr. Mark Ellingson	Church History
ITC	Dr. David Rensberger	New Testament
ITC	Dr. Edward Wimberly	Psychological Counseling
MC	Dr. Anne Baird	Sociology
MC	Cynthia Trawick	Public Health
MC	Dr. Gwendolyn Cattledge	Public Health
MBC	Dr. Milford Green, MPH	Assoc. Dean/Biology& PH
MBC	Dr. Johnnie Myers	Criminal Justice
MBC	Dr. Randolph Taylor	Biology
SC	Dr. Victor Ibeanusi	Environmental Sciences
SC	Dr. Fatemeh Shafiei	Political Science
SC	Dr. Rommie Tribble	Economics & Assoc. Prov.
Key: CAU=Clark Atlanta University; ITC=Interdenominational Theological Center; MC=Morehouse College; MBC=Morris Brown College; SC=Spelman College;

1999 - 2000 Student Scholars

Institution	Name	Major	Classification
CAU	Laura E. Cutrer	Physics	Grad School
CAU	Erinna L. Kinney	Biology	Senior
CAU	Sojourner Marble	Radio/TV/Film	Junior
CAU	Trishanna McKendall	Social Work	Sophomore
CAU	Prentiss McGhee	Sociology	Grad School
CAU	Dale Roberts	Sociology	Grad School
ITC	Fannye Belt	Divinity	Grad School
ITC	Wylinn Dassie	Divinity	Grad School
ITC	Tamara Rice	Divinity	Grad School
MC	Ramsey L. Smith	Chemistry	Senior
SC	Folashadeí Alao	English	Junior
SC	Jeta N. Harmon	Political Science	Junior
SC	Jalaya Liles	Undecided	Freshman
SC	Vinita L. Voss	Political Science	Senior
SC	Tamela Woods	Political Science	Junior

Papers Written by BES Student Scholars

• Reverend David Jackson, "Keeping the Holy Trust: The Future of Wholesome Sustainable living"