Sustainability grant aims to enhance eco-friendly initiatives on campus. Photo by Andrew Buckley.
MOLLY DURM | STAFF REPORTER | mdurm@butler.edu
The McKinney Family Foundation gifted the university a grant to support the new Office of Sustainability and sustainability efforts in the Lacy School of Business (LSB). The grant is the first major gift dedicated to support Butler’s Sustainability and Climate Action Commitment that was signed by President Danko in 2012. The donation will fund a new position in the Office of Sustainability along with curriculum development, faculty research and international fellowship opportunities within LSB.
The Office of Sustainability, founded in 2024, focuses on Butler’s energy efficiency, waste diversion and land and water stewardship while also collaborating with departments across campus to expand sustainability initiatives.
Julia Angstmann, the executive director of the Office of Sustainability, explained the mission and responsibilities of the new office.
“Our work is focused on helping to support collaboration across campus around sustainability initiatives,” Angstmann said. “We’re a small office, and so we rely on other divisions to really push the needle on sustainability. We’re a collaborator and a connector. We do a lot of reporting on progress measures and projects both on campus and off campus … Everything we do, we find ways to engage students in it.”
The McKinney Family Foundation, committed to building an environmentally sustainable future for Indiana, aligns with Butler’s sustainability goals. It provided support to help develop future leaders focused on sustainability.
Angstmann emphasized that the foundation is not only a sponsor for Butler, but also a long-time partner in driving eco-conscious progress on campus.
“With the McKinney Family Foundation, they’re not just a funder; they are a thought partner,” Angstmann said. “They’re thinking about the workforce that’s going to be needed to support the clean energy transition in Indiana [and asking], ‘What are the needs in Indiana? How can Butler support those workforce development needs, and what fits within the context of what Butler is already doing?”
With corporate emissions having a major effect on the environment, the need for sustainability expertise is only growing within the business world. LSB has already begun addressing this need with nine sustainability-inclusive courses.
Jane Siegler, an associate professor of operations and supply chain analytics and co-chair of the sustainability curriculum faculty group, has always found it beneficial to integrate sustainability into her teaching.
“In [LSB] there is a consensus in terms of what we call the “Triple P”: people, planet and profit,” Siegler said. “This means looking at business not just from a profit perspective, but also what we’re doing for the environment and for the people.”
The donation will directly benefit both teachers and students at LSB. With this funding, faculty members will conduct research on corporate sustainability efforts and develop new curriculum offering additional classes focused on eco-friendly business practices. Additionally, the grant will create fellowship opportunities allowing students to travel internationally to study sustainability firsthand.
“The grant is a way to support faculty both on the teaching side, as well as on the research side to make sure that we are influencing students to be the kind of leaders who understand that sustainability is important,” Siegler said. “It’s something that we all need to take charge and be responsible for. We know that business corporations have a lot of power, so this is a way to educate future business leaders to have a sustainability mindset.”
Emilee Theofanopoulos, a sophomore mechanical engineering and environmental studies double major, is the operational sustainability emissions intern at the sustainability office. She is eager to see what new curriculum Butler will be able to offer with funding from the grant.
“I am really excited to see what the grant can provide in the [sustainability education] space,” Theofanopoulos said. “Sustainability in business is so important, so I think it will be really interesting to see how they’re going to incorporate that into business management. Obviously running a business is important, but running it sustainably is just as important.”
As sustainability initiatives continue to grow, students can get involved on campus and beyond, whether that includes through taking a course or participating in everyday eco-friendly activities.
“The best thing we can do is just be curious,” Theofanopoulos said. “Also just making changes within your own life. Obviously preaching [about sustainability] is important, but doing it yourself and making those sustainable changes in your own life is kind of half the battle.”
