With nearly 40 events and dozens of campus partners, this year’s Earth Month reflects the College’s commitment to building community around shared values of environmental stewardship and climate justice.
Each April, Occidental College’s campus takes on a different kind of energy—one shaped not by a single event, but by a month-long commitment to sustainability, creativity, and community.
What began as a celebration of Earth Day has evolved into Earth Month at Oxy, a campus-wide series of events that reflects the College’s strong culture of environmental stewardship. This year, that momentum is especially visible. After hosting roughly 30 events in 2024 and 2025, Oxy is on track to offer close to 40 events throughout April 2026.
The expansion is tied, in part, to the relaunch of the Office of Sustainability in Fall 2023. While Earth Month has traditionally been led by the ASOC Sustainability Fund, the Office of Sustainability has taken on a larger coordinating role, bringing together partners from across campus to broaden both the scope and impact of programming.
Planning begins months in advance. The Office of Sustainability convenes a kickoff meeting with sustainability leaders from across departments and student organizations to define shared goals, provide planning resources, and map out a cohesive schedule.
“One of the things that excites me every year is to see the final compilation of events in the Earth Month calendar,” says Alison Linder, assistant director of sustainability. “With thanks to 36 different partners this year, we can see the reach of participation with both on- and off-campus collaborations.”
This year’s goals extend beyond showcasing existing sustainability work. Organizers are focused on building community, raising awareness, encouraging behavior change and activism, and expanding access to sustainability for new audiences.
According to Rosa Romero, adjunct professor and the FEAST garden faculty advisor, FEAST grew out of a shared conviction that a college campus can model what a regenerative food system and sustainable environment looks like, from restoring native landscapes and growing food to tending chickens and diverting cafeteria waste through composting.
“Contributing to Earth Month brings those values to life on campus and proves that building a more resilient and sustainable world starts right here, in how we grow, steward, and care for our communities and the land together,” she says.
For the Office of Sustainability, these values contribute to a broader culture of sustainability at Oxy. Rather than isolating environmental work within specific programs, the aim is to integrate it into everyday campus life.
That integration can take many forms. At the library, a rotating monthly book display has been curated around Earth Month, offering a simple but visible entry point into sustainability topics. In the Media Arts & Culture department, an annual student film competition has adopted sustainability as its theme this year.
Beyond campus, many Earth Month events are open to the public, creating opportunities to engage with the broader Los Angeles community. This year marks a new partnership with LA Climate Week. In collaboration with Planet in Mind, the Office of Sustainability will host “Getting it Right in Film Making” on April 9.
The event will feature a sustainable film production showcase, followed by a screening and panel discussion, offering practical insights into reducing environmental impact in creative industries. It reflects a growing emphasis on connecting sustainability with career pathways and creative practice, while also strengthening ties between Oxy and the wider Los Angeles region.
Uplifting ongoing efforts to create Oxy’s first ever Climate Action and Sustainability Plan is also a part of this year’s Earth Month. On April 16th, the Office of Sustainability and Office of the President will hold a community forum to provide updates and collect feedback on the developing plan. Getting community input is critical to ensure that the plan represents the goals and objectives of the College and contains action items that serve the community’s needs. The Office of Sustainability will also be tabling on the quad from April 6–9 to answer questions and take feedback on the plan.
Across the month, events range from hands-on activities like gardening and upcycled crafts to forums inviting input on the college’s first Climate Action and Sustainability Plan. Students can attend guest lectures, participate in transit-based field trips, explore special collections exhibits, or gather at the annual Quad Fair.
Together, these events form a picture of sustainability not as a single initiative, but as a shared, evolving effort where everyone has a role to play.
