Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility

Presentation

The Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility was launched in 1987 at Humboldt State University in California. The idea was launched by socially and environmentally committed students who were graduating and moving into the workplace. These students had been active in social and environmental responsibility activities and were determined to ensure that this commitment continued as they moved through their lives.

Objectives

Graduates who voluntarily signed the Pledge seek out employment reflecting their values and visions, turn down jobs with which they did not feel comfortable and work to make social and environmental changes once on the job. 

Innovative aspects

• Promote recycling at their organization,
• Remove racist language from a training manual,
• Work for gender parity in high school athletics,
• Convince an employer to refuse a chemical weapons-related contract.

Website

Graduation Pledge