SUSTAINABLE: The University Makes a Major Leap

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$12.5 million.

That’s enough money to buy a lot of stuff.

It’s enough to buy mansions, sports cars and fine dinners. It’s enough to buy basically anything you want in life, but instead of spending that money by themselves, the George and Amanda Hanley Foundation has decided to donate it to the school.

Actions like this cannot be understated.

Our school runs on donations. It’s an essential part of running any private university. Philanthropy is the engine that drives the school. Really, it is. We go to a school where the overwhelming majority of students are on some sort of scholarship, where the majority of students benefit from somebody else’s actions.

The new sustainability institute is a step forward, not only for the University of Dayton, but for society as a whole. Our addiction to fossil fuels has an expiration date. Eventually, all humans are going to have to get their energy in a different way. Maybe not in 10 years, maybe not in 20 years, but eventually. Now, because of this donation, the University of Dayton is on the forefront of that technology. Students of all majors at our school will start to research and learn new ways to harvest energy from our most abundant natural resource, the sun. The sustainability institute will also work to solve other problems.

One of those other problems has to do with waste. The new sustainability facility will also work to have a compost center that will be used to reduce the amount of waste and keep as much out of landfills as possible. The goal is to find a way to use less of the natural resources the earth provides us.

This institute will work to provide students with a bridge between their school work and the job market they will enter upon graduation. With this institute, students will get real world experience working with the technology of the future. They will be better prepared and more knowledgeable than many of their counterparts.

The University of Dayton took a step forward Friday. Sometimes all it takes is one person to make a difference.