Penn State, with its more than 2,000 faculty, is a knowledge powerhouse. Name a topic and PSU has experts. But our faculty experts rarely speak openly as private citizens on the important public issues that they are highly knowledgeable about. Green Destiny's second "awakening" initiative--based on the principle that "with knowledge comes responsibility"--is designed to help PSU faculty "come out" (i.e., to publicly share their knowledge and understanding on the important issues of our times).
Here's an example of how this can be done. During Fall, 2000, a team of Green Destiny students interviewed forty researchers at Penn State who study climate change. As a result of these interviews many researchers expressed a willingness to brief Penn State's Board of Trustees on climate change and those who declined were often willing to "come out" in other ways. For example, several of the researchers addressed the crowd at Green Destiny's open air Classroom Without Walls entitled "Climate Change and Penn State" (October, 2000); and forty professors also went on to sign a powerful statement calling on the University "to take a leadership role in early actions to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions via the most cost-effective means."
Over the coming years Green Destiny will build on this "linking knowledge to activism model". Specifically, we will repeat the process model just described around four timely issues:

A. Awakening Conscience on University Investments. Penn State's sole criteria in investment decisions is to maximize financial returns on investment. Given that ethical considerations play no part in Penn State's investment deliberations, it is inevitable that Penn State unwittingly supports corporations whose practices and aims conflict with the University's own mission. Should this continue and how can we influence the decision making process to reflect a more ethical model?

B. Awakening Conscience on the Ethics of Military Research on Campus. PSU's research is dominated by corporate and military sponsors. Penn State accepts research monies without questioning corporate profit objectives or ecological and ethical concerns. Penn State is Number 1 among universities in military contracts and is currently involved in more than 200 DOD projects. There are five toxic military waste sites in State College.) Does weapons research belong on campus (or anywhere on Planet Earth)?

C. Awakening Conscience on Environmental Racism. Penn State produces approximately 75 tons of hazardous waste each year. Poor, predominately black, rural communities (e.g., in South Carolina in the case of PSU's waste) with cash-flow problems are often targets for hazardous waste disposal. If we won't dispose of our waste in our own backyard, should we be producing it in the first place?

D. Awakening Conscience on Personal Health and Foods. Local organic foods are virtually unavailable anywhere on campus. A trip to the Penn State creamery, a campus landmark, illustrates the lack of concern the university has for the health of its students, other consumers and the environment. Ice-cream is served in styrofoam cups using milk produced with bovine growth hormone with a high fat and sugar content. No sugarless product is available anywhere in the restaurant.