MOORHEAD– On the evening of April 2, 2025, the Student Environmental Alliance posted a statement saying that Concordia College is dissolving the Sustainability Office.
“SEA is disappointed to share that the Sustainability Office is being dissolved at the end of this academic year. More to come as we organize and figure out the next steps,” the caption to the post read. “but for now, know that SEA will not stop our efforts on campus to promote sustainability and support the Climate Action Plan.”
When asked about the office closure, Colin Irvine, President of Concordia College, confirmed that Concordia College would be dissolving the Sustainability Office. He referred to the closure as a “restructuring,” including redefining several positions and upholding Concordia’s mission to sustainability.
The decision, according to Irvine, was made by him and his office. Both Irvine and Sarah Larson, Provost, confirmed that this restructuring was not due to Donald Trump’s executive orders calling for “Unleashing American Energy,” which calls for usage of fossil fuels and opening protected lands for production.
“The work of the Sustainability Office is going to be revisited, not necessarily reconsidered, but revisited and redistributed,” said Irvine. “Going into the next academic year, we are looking at how we carry out that work in a new way that is distributed across offices.”
The departments that could potentially absorb parts of the Sustainability Office include Academic Affairs, the Business Office, the President’s Office and Residence Life. At the time of publication, he has not confirmed what departments would be involved or how they would be absorbing the Sustainability Office. Many decisions still have to be made.
“That’s one of the things that we want to do together as a bigger group,” said Irvine. “Who can do what with respect to these goals, what are the appropriate goals? I think it will change a little bit on a year-to-year basis, based on what we want to accomplish.”
The current Sustainability Office has 19 student interns and one full-time Sustainability Coordinator. The team plans both long-term and short-term goals to increase sustainability efforts across campus and the Fargo-Moorhead community. Recent projects include the COBBikes, Saalt products (in collaboration with SGA), and the Free Store.
Sarah Orr, the current Sustainability Coordinator, received a termination notice on March 19, 2025. The notice outlined the termination as a “strategic restructuring to meet financial objectives.” Her final day as the Sustainability Coordinator at Concordia College is April 30, 2025.
The Sustainability Office is moving into the final phase of planning for Earth Week, and the decision came as a shock, according to Delaney Claggett, President of SEA and Sustainability Office Intern.
Claggett and one other intern learned of the closure of the Sustainability Office on March 28, the Sustainability Office interns were made aware five days later.
“We had to kind of just formulate a game plan,” Claggett said. “We wanted to make sure that students were aware that this change was happening on campus.”
With the closure of the Sustainability Offices, some student projects have been put on hold until future notice, including the COBBikes and the Free Store.
The COBBikes, which were done in partnership with The Carl B. Ylvisaker Library, will not be put out for student use in the spring, Claggett said. There is, however, a possibility that they will be available in the coming months.
The Free Store is run by the EcoReps, directed under Riley Duppong. Duppong and the five EcoReps maintain the Free Store throughout the year. In preparation for Earth Week, the Free Store will temporarily close.
“The EcoReps have to dedicate a lot of their time and energy preparing Earth Week,” said Claggett. “Until they’re able to put more energy into it in the fall.”
Though the Sustainability Office will be closing, SEA will continue to operate as a student organization on campus. They plan to continue advocating for The Climate Action Plan, and teach the community how to live more sustainably.
Many details of how the school will be restructuring both The Climate Action Plan and the commitment to Sustainability are still unclear. Irvine hopes that this will give the college a chance to complete more short-term goals, 6-12 months, according to Irvine, while keeping its eye on the horizon.
As of publication, Concordia College has not released an official statement regarding the closure, but released the following statement to The Concordian:
“Concordia remains committed to sustainability. We are evolving how we approach sustainability by distributing the components of the work in different ways across the campus. The Sustainability Council will continue with a sharper focus on identifying high-impact priorities. The curriculum will continue to be infused with sustainability. Though the structure of the work may change, Concordia’s commitment to meaningful action remains.”
