For students who are hoping to pursue a career in sustainability, concerned about the global climate crisis or looking for ways to give back to the Charlottesville community, Epsilon Eta is a perfect fit. The University’s pre-professional environmental fraternity, Epsilon Eta is dedicated to environmental sustainability, preservation and awareness, all while preparing several students for their post-graduate futures. Through camping trips, Corner Cleanups and off-Grounds service events, the fraternity creates a community where like-minded individuals can pursue their passion for sustainability in meaningful ways.
Twenty years ago, Liza Schillo, an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, founded Epsilon Eta to raise environmental awareness and provide members with professional skills and networking resources to pursue work in environmental fields.
Since then, 21 chapters have been established across the country, arriving to Grounds in 2022. The Contracted Independent Organization was an immediate hit, and now has several active members.
At the University, Epsilon Eta members pursue their interest in sustainability through three main pillars — service, professional development and community. While most members plan to pursue careers in environmental studies, the fraternity welcomes any student dedicated to making a positive community impact and engaging with the environment in meaningful ways.
For Billy Bass, Epsilon Eta member and rising second-year College student, sustainability has always been something he valued and wanted to pursue in a future career.
“For me, environmentalism has always been part of my personal philosophy, just the idea of balance in nature and how we can replicate that in our lives,” Bass said.
Epsilon Eta also provides students with an avenue to pursue their interests in environmentalism if their majors are outside of environmental studies. For Kiran Subramanian, member and rising second-year College student, Epsilon Eta has given her an avenue to meaningfully give back to the community.
“In my high school, I was super involved in the environmental club,” Subramanian said. “So even though I'm not an environmental major, joining the club seemed pretty interesting to me … they seemed to cater to a lot of different people.”
Each semester, Epsilon Eta typically hosts four or five community service events, and members are required to attend at least two. Corner Cleanups are a club staple, organized through the University’s Office of Sustainability. Members pick up trash around the Corner and Mad Bowl multiple times a semester, often teaming up with members of other University CIOs. Molly Moore, member and rising second-year College student, said she enjoys volunteering with other Epsilon Eta friends at Corner Cleanups on Sunday mornings.
“It's very satisfying because there's a very clear before and after, and there's a tangible impact that is made,” Moore said.
Epsilon Eta also volunteers off-Grounds in the greater Charlottesville community. Nate Bushey, volunteer co-chair for Epsilon Eta and rising fourth-year College student, helps to organize service opportunities for the fraternity. He ensures the fraternity promotes sustainability and environmental conservation, working alongside local organizations without overloading their managerial staff — most of whom are volunteers themselves. With Ivy Creek Foundation, fraternity members work with local volunteers to maintain local trails, increasing accessibility and combatting erosion.
“[Ivy Creek Foundation relies] on volunteers for their general upkeep in placing water bars on their trails,” Bushey said. “Or sometimes it's just moving dirt from place to place to prevent mudslides and [stuff] like that, and sometimes it's invasive species removal to prevent the native vegetation from being choked out or killed, just to keep the area beautiful.”
Besides Ivy Creek Foundation, Epsilon Eta members volunteer at Morven Farm, the University’s Sustainability lab dedicated to tackling climate challenges through sustainable practice and research. At Morven, students pick produce and maintain the gardens. In the past, Epsilon Eta has also worked with New Roots, an organization dedicated to improving food security for refugees through sustainable community gardens.
In terms of professional development, Anna Keefer, Epsilon Eta’s professional co-chair, president-elect and rising fourth-year College student, organizes panels and career workshops for the fraternity. By connecting with professionals in environmental fields and Epsilon Eta alumni, Keefer cultivates spaces where members can learn about a wide variety of different academic and career paths related to the environment and sustainability.
Recent panels featured an environmental lawyer, a solar engineer and a Deputy Assistant Director from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Epsilon Eta has also coordinated professional LinkedIn profile headshots and a resume-building workshop, where members could learn from upperclassmen and refine their professional toolkits.
Beyond career preparedness, Epsilon Eta also provides avenues for academic advice. Members can recommend environmental-focused courses through a shared Google Sheet, creating a guide especially helpful during enrollment periods.
Beyond professional development, social opportunities are also a main feature of the fraternity, where members can build strong friendships with peers who share similar interests. New members can form meaningful connections with older members by becoming a “sapling” — similar to a typical sorority or fraternity “little.” Further, Epsilon Eta’s bonding activities focus on nature connectedness, setting this fraternity apart from other typical Greek organizations.
Members can hang out with their “trees” — similar to a typical sorority or fraternity “big” — “saplings” and other members of the fraternity at the many social events each semester, including snow tubing, pot painting, a formal, hikes, pumpkin painting and mixers with other CIOs.
Bushey said he did not consider the fraternity’s social aspects before joining, but the bonds he has made with his “sapling” — Bass — and other members have been formative for his college experience, especially as a transfer student.
“As soon as I joined, it became so apparent that you're surrounded by people who, one, love the environment just as much as you do, two, just love to be outdoors, and three … [are] just some of the nicest, most caring people that you've ever met,” Bushey said.
Epsilon Eta hosts rush events for interested students in both the fall and the spring. This year, the potential rushees could attend a picnic on the Lawn and bouquet making event, where they could learn more about the fraternity before applying.
From Corner Cleanups to fraternity formals, Epsilon Eta’s presence on Grounds spreads environmental awareness and ensures the University is a better, more sustainable place. This CIO is more than just a resume-builder. Rather, it is a community full of students who hope to make a genuine, positive impact on the environment.
“I was just looking for a place … [with] other environmentally-focused, like minded people,” Keefer said. “[Epsilon Eta] is a place where I want to be and where I think I fit in.”
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