Texas Exes started a sustainability network last month to connect environmentally-conscious UT alumni. 

The Sustainability Alumni Network officially launched on Feb. 15 with the goal of bringing people from different disciplines together to imagine a more sustainable future, according to a Texas Sustainability Instagram announcement. 

“One of the pieces of feedback that we received at the launch and talking with alumni was that they felt like they didn’t have a place to go to talk about and share their ideas around sustainability on campus,” said Jayme Walenta, co-president of the alumni sustainability network.  

Sandy Eapen, co-president of the network, said it’s in the developmental phase, but their main goal is building connections between active alumni members. 

“We want to foster those relationships, networking with alumni that are in sustainability or interested,” Eapen said. “We do want to also build those relationships with students and help that trajectory.” 

According to its website, the network plans to build on past work at UT, such as its sustainability curriculum, student organizations devoted to sustainability and the creation of the Campus Environmental Center in 2001. 

“There’s over 110,000 Texas Exes alumni around the world, how do we leverage the collective impact we can have around sustainability?” Eapen said. 

The network gained about 300 members in its first three weeks and hopes to continue building an alumni base, Eapen said. Membership in the Texas Exes Sustainability Network is currently open to any UT alumni. 

“We want to share knowledge, want to inspire action (and) collaboration and we want to drive, ideally, real-world impact at the University and beyond, and hopefully that’s where we can partner with some students in the future,” Eapen said.