It's easy being green

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Toasting the Class of 2007–08 of named professors with a glass of Tabor Hill wine, Provost Thomas F. Rosenbaum addressed nearly 20 faculty who received the honor this academic year—including Robert Gooding-Williams, the Ralph and Mary Otis Isham professor of political science and the College, and William Wimsatt, the Peter B. Ritzma professor in philosophy and evolutionary biology. "We picked this day on purpose," Rosenbaum joked Monday evening, pointing to the looming gray clouds outside the GSB convention-room window. "You are the headlights of the University...lighting and pointing" Chicago in a new direction.

The reception also marked a new path for the University's special-events team. It was the first University-sponsored gathering to incorporate an "aggressive amount" of environmentally friendly practices, said event coordinator Beth McCullough. "Everything is organic or locally produced," she said, including cheeses from Wisconsin and a bar stocked with beers and wines from nearby microbreweries and wineries. Instead of plastic cutlery and plates, which "sit in landfills forever," said McCullough, all forks, knives, and dishes were rented. Simple ways to cut down on waste, she explained, included sending out electronic invites and reusing plastic name-tag holders. The University is becoming more aware of and open to conservational practices, McCullough said, noting two more green events planned for the spring.

R.E.K.

Photos: Top: Faculty honored this academic year with named professorships gather in a GSB convention room; bottom: abiding by green practices, the reception's hor'dourves were either organic or locally produced.

February 6, 2008

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