Welcome to Colloquium!

 

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The three Wow! moments I reflected on as I watched the Colloquium Video:

         

         1. Peter Blaze Corcoran, FGCU Professor of Ecological Studies, quoted:

"It's very unusual to have a course in environmental sustainability that's required for graduation. As far as I know this is the only university in the world that has a requirement of this particular kind" (McCulloch, 2013).

I found it interesting how Florida Gulf Coast University is the first to have a sustainability course as a requirement for graduation based on the history behind our campus location. I find Colloquium to be necessary as it brings an awareness to my generation on the responsibility we owe to the environment for providing us with the resources we have today. 

    2. Keith Arnold, Former Member of the Florida House of Representatives, quoted: 

"We were all sitting in the meeting room with the board of regions...and various members of the board were receiving public testimony as to which side it ought to be...Ben Hill Griffin got up from his seat in the back and walked up to the podium...and took out his wallet and slapped it on the podium and said 'I will give you one more million dollars if you select my land and not his'...and he walked up to the table at the very last minute and said 'Here's another million dollars now make your decision" (McCulloch, 2013). 

 I found it hilarious how Ben Hill Griffin put one million dollars on the table to achieve his goal of building a university that we are able to call home. His confidence and passion showed how much he valued education and wanted to create an environment for students to be tomorrow's change makers in bringing forth sustainability into future generations. 

    3. Keith Arnold, Former Member of the Florida House of Representatives, quoted:

"...And try to understand how to build this university here, while protecting the environment as much as possible, addressing their issues, and keeping the environmental focus that the university was intended to have in the first place" (McCulloch, 2013). 

  The importance of protecting the land and wildlife is what directed Florida Gulf Coast University attention to a sustainable worldview. The legacy that has been brought upon us students by our university will broaden our awareness of environmental issues and make the personal choice to make a change in the condition of our environment as we practice a sustainable approach. 

    The feel-good introduction and ending to the Colloquium Video as the song Waiting On the World to Change by John Mayer played in the background made a difference in how I approached the video. I was eager to learn how Florida Gulf Coast University became to be the "green" university. Now that I know how it came to be, I feel proud to carry on it's history.

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