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COVER STORY: Back to the Land...Still
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Merri
Swid Morgan, J66
Jennifer Sturmer, J83
Kenny Williams, A71
Jack Lazor, A73
Anne Wilson, J75
Dan Horan, A89
E. H. Roy, A76
Philip Cook, A61
Nina Danforth, J73
Lloyd Zuckerberg, A84
A New Generation:
Odin Zackman,
G00
Margaret Lloyd, A02
Amy Baron, A02
Abby Slosek, A99
Teague Channing,
A01 |
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When we first decided
to seek alumni stories about “back to the land . . .
still,” we expected to hear from graduates of the 1960s
and 1970s, years marked by rejection of the “establishment” for
alternative lifestyles. We were surprised when the response
was much wider. We heard stories from those who have stuck
by a principled way of life for more than three decades,
but they are a diverse bunch: a rancher, a dairy farmer,
a beekeeper. We heard from alumni like Jennifer Sturmer,
A83, raising hydroponic
tomatoes, and Lloyd Zuckerberg, A84, working hard to preserve
open space. And then we heard from recent graduates, and it
was hard not to be moved by their aspirations as educators
and reformers.
In the end, we decided to run all their stories. Together,
they broadened our premise well beyond its preconceptions
of farming to the notion of stewardship and activism. The
idea of “still” can now reflect what’s
more true: the vigor of ideas that gather new meaning with
each generation.
Their commendable stories also share a common root with the
idea of sustainability. Julian Agyeman,
assistant professor in Urban and Environmental Policy and
Planning, describes sustainable development as “improving the quality of human life now
and into the future in a just and equitable manner, while living
within the limits of supporting ecosystems.” The work
of these and other alumni is increasingly urgent, he said;
recently, more than 50 percent of the world was officially
classified as “urban.”
“Now you will find people who are as likely to be working
in boardrooms as in fields; we want people to drop in rather
than drop out, as they often did in the ’70s” he
said. “The ideas surrounding quality of life are broader
now—they are part of an emerging set of principles that
will guide this new millennium. And in the end, we can all share
in that aim. It really doesn’t matter where you live—it’s
how.” |
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