May 27, 2025
The St. Mary’s University Laudato Si’ Implementation Committee on Sustainability continues the late Pope Francis’ call to action on caring for the Earth by funding four campus projects proposed by students, staff and faculty.
Approving more than $15,000 for the proposals, Professor of Environmental Science David Turner, Ph.D., who chairs the committee, said they received numerous recommendations during the 2024-2025 academic year.
Two of the approved projects will fund a total of three new water refilling stations across the University in an attempt to reduce water waste. One project funded the installation of a water station on the third floor of St. Louis Hall, and the second project funds a new water station on the fifth floor of Chaminade Tower and one at the AT&T Center for Information Technology.
A thrifted thread shop has also been established at the Career and Professional Development Center, providing University students with free, clean and gently used professional clothing and offering low-cost ways to protect and care for them.
The committee will also fund native plant habitats or “pocket prairies” on campus, providing habitat and food sources for local wildlife. Using native plants also requires less water and is considered low maintenance compared to non-native species.
A new community garden has also been established between Moody Life Sciences Center and the Marianist Retirement Community. Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Mary Beth Hawkins, Ph.D., will oversee the project funded through a combination of alumni and committee donations.
Turner said additional proposals are currently being considered.
Published in 2015, Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home, calls on Catholics, people of faith and institutions to see the moral and theological reasons for environmentalism.
The document lays out seven areas of focus: responding to the cry of the Earth and the poor; ecological economics, education and spirituality; adopting sustainable lifestyles; and community resilience and empowerment.
In 2021, St. Mary’s was the first university in Texas to become a Laudato Si’ University and began its seven-year journey to promote a sustainable home.
Jason King, Ph.D., the Beirne Director of the Center for Catholic Studies, said the University’s Holistic Impact Report shows Hispanic graduates of Catholic colleges volunteered in environmental efforts at triple the rate of graduates from secular institutions.
“In this way, Hispanic Catholics may offer a prophetic example of what Laudato Si’ looks like on the ground,” King said. “Their practices remind us that environmental justice is not a niche concern or partisan issue. It is a call to holiness. It is how we love God through love of creation.”