Villanova University Celebrates Earth Week 2026
VILLANOVA, Pa. (April 9, 2026)—From Tuesday, April 14, through Friday, April 24, Villanova University will host a series of activities, workshops and lectures in honor of Earth Week 2026. Each spring, Villanova Sustainability spearheads these initiatives to encourage the campus community to reflect on humanity’s relationship with the planet and to consider how they can include environmentally friendly practices in their daily routines.
For a full overview of this year’s events, please visit the University’s Earth Week 2026 webpage.
Earth Week 2026 Highlights
- On Monday, April 20, at 6 p.m., Villanova Sustainability will host a virtual webinar entitled “What’s at Stake With the Energy Crisis?” in collaboration with the Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest. The discussion, featuring the University of Oklahoma’s Robert Lifset, PhD, Rice University’s Julie Cohn, PhD, and the University of Iowa’s Tyler Priest, PhD, will examine our modern-day energy predicament and concerns through a historical lens.
- The annual Sustainability Fair will take place on Wednesday, April 22, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Connelly Plaza. The largest event of the week, this year’s fair will feature arts and crafts, vendors, research presentations and various giveaways.
- On Thursday, April 23, from 12:30 to 2 p.m., Mary-Angela Papalaskari, PhD, associate professor emerita of Computing Sciences, will host a Fragments workshop. As part of the collaborative art project, participants will design cyanotype prints—blue-toned images created through a historic photograph process—at Villanova’s new sustainability garden.
- Queen Quet Marquetta L. Goodwine, chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, will deliver Earth Week 2026’s keynote address on Thursday, April 23, at 5:30 p.m. in Driscoll Hall Room 132. Her lecture, “Resilient Roots: Sustaining Gullah/Geechee Culturally and Environmentally,” will detail how the Gullah/Geechee people have centered cultural heritage continuation and community engagement in their sustainability practices.
- On Sunday, April 19, and Sunday, April 26, Villanovans are invited to take part in an Earth Day of Service volunteer opportunity at the new community garden on West Campus, behind the tennis courts by Picotte Hall.
Sustainability at Villanova University: In 2007, Villanova University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. In 2018, the Villanova Sustainability Leadership Council was established to develop a 10-year actionable and measurable plan to guide the University’s comprehensive effort to support the planet and its people and to ensure prosperity for all. By committing the University to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and developing a customized Laudato Si’ Plan, Villanova University is taking decisive and unflinching action to build a better future. At the core of all sustainability activities, both large and small, is the University’s vision to establish an ethos of sustainable living. As an Augustinian Catholic institution, Villanova is committed to generating and advocating sustainable action to help create a future that provides enough, for all, forever.
About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation’s top universities, Villanova supports its students’ intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.