Christina Lesyk, director of university events at Clarkson University, has been featured in an American School & University magazine article on "The Greening of Commencement."

The article was a follow-up to Lesyk's presentation on sustainable commencements at the annual conference of the North American Association of Commencement Officers in Washington, D.C. in February.

“We started off like a lot of other institutions by greening the regalia after we came across information about biodegradable graduation gowns a few years ago,” says Lesyk in the article. “It kind of snowballed from there as we thought, ‘Okay, what else can we do?'”

Eco-friendly graduation ceremonies can benefit the environment while being cost-efficient.

“Our primary concern is to continue to produce a quality product. Through sustainable practices, we can take what most colleges and universities consider to be their most important annual event and add value to it without sacrificing quality. Sustainable practices don’t necessarily make the ceremonies any more expensive,” says Lesyk.

Lesyk has worked at Clarkson since 2005 and has been director of university events since 2009.

She received designation as a certified special events professional by the International Special Events Society in January.

This spring she was nominated as a Senate Woman of Distinction for the 47th Senate District, which encompasses Oneida, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

The full article is available at asumag.com/sustainability-initiatives/greening-commencement-ceremonies.