Students at colleges and universities throughout the world have recognized the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility. It reads:

I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work.

The pledge is voluntary. It allows people to determine for themselves what they consider to be environmentally and socially responsible.

Manchester University students have signed the pledge since 1988, a year after its inception at Humboldt State University. For 11 years, from 1996-2007, Manchester was the national headquarters for the Graduation Pledge Alliance (GPA), the national pledge effort. Over the years 50-65 percent of students have worn green ribbons at commencement in recognition of the pledge. To our knowledge, Manchester was the first to wear ribbons and now a number of other colleges and universities do.

We have recognized that the pledge can be supported by anyone who wants to be intentional about the responsibility of his or her employment. It is our hope that support of the pledge will contribute to the cooperative effort to build responsible citizenship for a sustainable world. In the past, some MU pledge signers have turned down jobs they did not feel ethically comfortable with or have promoted environmentally friendly efforts while on the job.

Volunteers will be present prior to commencement to hand out green ribbons and pins to those graduates who endorse the pledge, as well as to supportive faculty members. Wearing a ribbon makes a public statement of one's intent to consider the well being of the world and its inhabitants both when considering job possibilities and after taking a job.

Click here to sign the pledge.

Students can pick their ribbons up at graduation.