Indiana
Students, faculty feel 'walled off' from Indiana University climate plan, sustainability projects
Indiana University said it’s reorganizing its sustainability offices to better implement the university’s climate action plan. But some students and faculty at IU Bloomington said they’ve been cut out of the process to make the university a cleaner, greener place.
How IU chooses to move forward could determine whether students, faculty and staff have a role in helping the university reach its climate goals.
Hands-on learning opportunities on campus take a hit
Sophomore Will Gardiner grew up playing in a nearby creek in Fort Wayne. Now he’s studying environmental science at IU Bloomington. He points out a sinking stream in Dunn Meadow on campus.
“It’s almost as if all the water goes right underneath and then right where that bridge is where the other side of the stream is. A little bit further up it shows right back up, it comes right out,” Gardiner said.
Gardiner said getting more hands-on experience would help him find a job and narrow down what he wants to do. But there aren’t enough good internships to go around for the more than 2,000 students in the IU Bloomington O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
Since Gardiner is spending at least two summers working or taking classes — the pressure is on for the summer before his senior year.
“I pretty much have one real opportunity to get a good, solid internship in before I’m out of school. So you want to make it count,” he said.
Students used to get more of that hands-on experience right on campus. Professor Kelly Eskew is the director of education for the Kelley Institute for Environmental and Social Sustainability in IU’s business school.
She was also president of a now defunct advisory board which used to tackle sustainability projects on campus through seven working groups — only two of which are now active. Eskew herself chaired one where a company trained students to do waste audits.
“The goal was that we would repeat that work year over year, using students to take a look at what our trash looks like here at Indiana University. And that has completely fallen away. It’s really a terrible waste of a wonderful — no pun intended — but it’s a missed opportunity,” she said.
Students and faculty ‘walled off from the process’
Losing the board means faculty also lost a way to share their expertise as IU tackles possibly the most ambitious sustainability project ever — its climate action plan. Though the university held at least one public forum at each campus, the planning committee meetings weren’t open to the public. And at least for now, implementation committee meetings aren’t either.
“I think it’s kind of a tragic loss,” said Michael Hamburger, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at IU.
“There is so much expertise and so much energy and enthusiasm about engaging with these issues. And more and more of many faculty and students feel walled off from this process, with many of the operations being handled in in secrecy and kind of behind closed doors,” he said.
That includes the new chief sustainability officer position — which oversees the climate plan for all of IU’s campuses.
Hamburger said faculty wanted an independent role hired through a national search — able to hold the campus accountable to its climate commitments and maybe more ambitious ones. Instead it reports to Capital Planning and Facilities and was posted internally. IU refused to explain why.
Reorganization makes the future of IU’s sustainability offices uncertain
While some faculty worry about all of these changes, Jessica Davis, the new chief sustainability officer, said she’s excited to get to work.
“We got a lot to do but it’s all very good, very exciting and really personally rewarding to be able to work on and serve the institution this way,” Davis said.
The climate plan implementation committee on IU Bloomington’s campus held its first meeting in January.
Davis admits her team has been more insular lately — that’s because the university was busy reorganizing all of its sustainability offices under the climate action plan.
“And ultimately it’s our job to implement and manage the climate action plan, as well as try to standardize the sustainability experience across IU to the best of our ability. So because that triggered a significant reorganization for us, now the provost’s office is working on what a new model might look like,” she said.
While things may be in flux right now, Davis said the implementation committee is working on a list of projects that students and faculty can get involved with. She said anyone on campus can always talk to their representative on the committee or request an audience with the committee.
Expert: IU isn’t an anomaly, but shouldn’t ignore opportunities for students
Like it or not — the way IU has organized its sustainability initiatives is not unusual, said Bridget Flynn. She works for Second Nature, a company that helps universities track their greenhouse gas emissions and find climate solutions.
They said having the chief sustainability officer position tied to facilities is very common — though today more of those roles are getting pushed up the hierarchy.
“More of those positions are reporting directly to the president or to a VP or like a CFO. Or a creation of a cabinet level position,” Flynn said.
Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text “Indiana” to 765-275-1120. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on climate solutions and climate change at ipbs.org/climatequestions.
Flynn said no matter how they choose to reach their climate goals, universities should try to involve students as much as possible. Even if IU decides to, say, hire a contractor to make their buildings more energy efficient, students could write requests for proposals or evaluate bids.
Flynn said change will take time — there are a lot of stakeholders involved and that involvement is important.
“In order to have people feel like they were really part of the process and see themselves in the plan and implementation. And that it really represents the desires of the campus,” she said.
Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.
Indiana Pacers’ Jalen Slawson dribbles during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers plan to sign wing Jalen Slawson to a two-way contract. The 26-year old forward has spent the ongoing campaign with the Pacers G League affiliate franchise, the Noblesville Boom. It’s a one-year pact covering the rest of the 2025-26 season.
Slawson was a second-round pick back in 2023 and spent his rookie season with the Sacramento Kings. That campaign, the Furman product appeared in 12 games and averaged 0.7 points and 0.6 rebounds per game. Since then, he has bounced around between the Orlando Magic and Pacers organizations.
Most of Slawson’s time in the pros has come via the G League. With the Kings and Magic affiliate teams, the forward averaged between 12 and 13 points per game while being a solid passer and rebounder for his position.
That got him a training camp invite with Indiana last fall. Slawson spent all of the 2025 preseason on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Pacers, and he appeared in all four of the team’s tune-up games ahead of the regular season. He averaged 2.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
Slawson was waived just before the regular season, but the Pacers affiliate team owned his G League rights, and he’s spent the entire season with the Noblesville Boom. That’s where the 6-foot-7 forward has popped – he’s averaging G League career highs of 19.2 points and 5.4 assists per game for the Boom this season, including an improved 34.7% three-point percentage.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – OCTOBER 7: Jules Bernard #14 of the Minnesota Timberwolves dribbles the ball against Jalen Slawson #18 of the Indiana Pacers during the second half of the preseason game at Target Center on October 7, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Getty Images
He’s been among Noblesville’s best players this year, and with the team losing many players to injury or overseas opportunities, he has recently become the G League’ club’s top option. Even with more responsibility and attention, Slawson has continued to produce.
Now, he gets a call up to the Pacers via a two-way contract. He’s eligible to be active for 13 of the Pacers final 22 games – two-way contract players are only able to appear in a maximum of 50 games in a league year, and that ratio of games gets prorated if they are signed mid-season.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle had good memories of Slawson’s play for Indiana during the preseason. “ I think he’s an NBA player,” Carlisle said. “He’s had a good year with the Boom and this will be a great opportunity for him to play some games.”
Two-way contracts provide a salary that is half of the NBA’s rookie minimum, which would equate to $636k over the course of a full season. Prorated for the current day on the calendar, that means Slawson will make about $161k on his two-way with Indiana the rest of the season.
Two-way deals have no impact on a team’s salary cap, so the Pacers have no changes to their spending reality. They opened up a two-way spot by converting the contract of Quenton Jackson earlier this weekend.
WHITELAND, Ind. (WISH) — “The Zone” featured highlights from eight high school boys basketball games from across central Indiana on Friday.
Watch highlights of Beech Grove at Whiteland above.
Final Score: Whiteland 89 Beech Grove 61
“The Zone” airs each Friday at 11:08 p.m. Click here to watch ‘The Zone’ for basketball highlights on February 27, 2026.
The Indiana Pacers are hoping to retain their 2026 first-round pick, which is protected 1-4 and 10-30. If the selection lands between 5 and 9, it conveys to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Ivica Zubac–Bennedict Mathurin trade.
At the top of the 2026 NBA Draft class, three names are consistently labeled as generational talents: AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson.
Indiana would welcome any of the three. The bigger question is whether that feeling would be mutual.
On a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons was joined by draft analysts Tate Frazier and J. Kyle Mann. During the discussion, Mann shared an interesting note about Peterson.
“I’ve gotten the impression from talking to people close to Darryn,” Mann said, “that Darryn is more likely to say, I’m interested in being the full on brain of this team. I don’t really want to play with another superstar, I want to be the center of the universe.”
J. Kyle Mann on The Bill Simmons Podcast
If that perception holds weight, it creates an intriguing dynamic.
The Pacers were one game away from an NBA championship last season and already feature two established stars in Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. Indiana is not a franchise searching for a singular identity, it already has one.
To be clear, Mann’s comments reflect conversations and impressions, not a public statement from Peterson himself. Still, the fit is worth examining. Indiana’s backcourt rotation already includes Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and T.J. McConnell. If Peterson were the pick, the Pacers would find ways to get him on the floor. He is that talented. But Indiana could not offer him an immediate “face of the franchise” role the way a Brooklyn, Sacramento or Washington might.
Mann also offered insight into how Dybantsa may view a situation like Indiana’s.
“AJ, people that know them both have told me that AJ is probably more likely to fit in with an Indiana,” Mann said. “Which is interesting because AJ likes to have the ball. Is he willing to be quick off of the ball with Haliburton? I just think that’s an interesting wrinkle in this.”
J. Kyle Mann on The Bill Simmons Podcast
The contrast is fascinating.
Hearing that Dybantsa would fit in more than Peterson is intriguing. Play style wise, I would lean more towards Peterson’s fitting how Indiana likes to play, especially with how Dybantsa has been utilized at BYU.
If we’re talking locker room fit, I think Dybantsa would embody what a Pacer is all about. Comes from a small market. Wants to win and doesn’t need the big city to do it in. He’s confident but won’t let his ego interfere with the success of the team. Just a levelheaded kid with a desire to be great, and would have one of the best playmaking point guards alongside him to help maximize his talent.
These two are the most polarizing and often mentioned names amongst NBA draft circles when looking at the top two in the class. If the comments made by Mann come to be true, the Pacers would be better off drafting the uber talented 6-9 forward, Dybantsa, than drafting a 6-6 elite shooting guard who would rather be “the guy” than a guy.
You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.
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