The new Red, Blue, & Green Freshman Interest Group will be housed in the Residential College South.
The University of Mississippi will be home to a new residential learning experience focused on environmental sustainability beginning in the 2015-2016 academic year. The Red, Blue, & Green Freshman Interest Group (FIG) is now accepting applications for its inaugural community.
A freshman interest group (FIG) is a specific community for first-year students with shared interests in which they live, learn, and grow together. The Office of Sustainability, in partnership with the Department of Student Housing, the Residential College South and the College of Liberal Arts, will host the community of approximately 20 students who will live in the Red, Blue, & Green community within the Residential College South.
“We wanted to provide incoming freshman an opportunity to fully immerse themselves in sustainability at Ole Miss,” said Sara Douglass, post baccalaureate fellow in the Office of Sustainability. “Through their participation in the FIG, students will be equipped with change agent skills to create a meaningful impact on sustainability at UM.”
Douglass worked with Student Housing and Marvin King, senior fellow of Residential College South, to develop and implement the program.
As members of this group, students will gain access to many outstanding opportunities as well as lifelong relationships. All of the students in the community will take part in “From Farm to Fork: Going Green Locally,” a LIBA 102 course designed to facilitate conversation about food and its environmental impact, as well as give students the opportunity to engage in discussion on common coursework and readings.
Along with the shared academic aspect, students will develop engaged scholarship and responsible citizenry skills through a variety of leadership and service related activities. FIG programming will also help students develop an understanding of their carbon footprint, energy and water consumption and current sustainability initiatives on campus. From field trips to lectures, to work in the community garden or shared meals in the dining hall, members of the Red, Blue, & Green FIG will have ample opportunity to learn and experience environmental sustainability and conservation together as a community.
To apply or learn more about the Red, Blue, & Green FIG, click here or contact Sara Douglass at scdougla@olemiss.edu.