Tar Heel of the Month

Ty Fenton, a senior environmental studies major, has worked as a student Operations Assistant and then Supervisor for the Carolina Union since his freshman year. During the past semester, he has demonstrated an excellent level of community engagement, and has frequently displayed his interest in community involvement to his peers and supervisors.

Ty is a student who has shown incredible dedication to the environmental impact of nonrenewable resources in not only in the Carolina community, but in the local and global community as well. Ty is part of the Epsilon Eta environmental honors fraternity, the first of its kind in the nation, and through his membership in this fraternity has actively pursued the introduction of measures to reduce disposable bag use in the Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities. He has been in contact with both local governments to actively discuss his proposals (see attached article) which include bag taxes to incentivize the use of reusable shopping bags. The more global aspect of Ty’s engagement in the community is reflected in his work with Strata Solar (a Chapel Hill-based solar company with global efforts) in efforts to provide data on and bring attention to the benefits of adopting renewable energy to the public both locally and abroad.

Through Ty’s involvement with his fraternity, he has also engaged directly with the community in efforts to promote sustainability education, highlighting the issue of environmental conservatism as a local and global issue that cuts across cultural boundaries. He has also performed more than a dozen hours of community service this academic semester, from volunteering in trash pick up to volunteering in community events.

His involvement and engagement in the community is something that Ty considers a core part of his personal and academic career mission, and his drive to work with and bring sustainable change to these communities is derived from his incredible sense of personal and ethical responsibility to maintaining a sustainable local and global environment.

This award is presented by the office of the Dean of Students and future nominations can be submitted through the Dean of Students' website.