First hour: New HWS president, Gregory Vincent
Second hour: Summer of Food - Vermiculture, composting, and reducing food waste
We take Connections on the road to WEOS in Geneva to meet the new president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Dr. Gregory Vincent began his tenure at the Colleges on Monday, and his welcome was more like a homecoming -- he's an HWS alumnus. Vincent is a former civil rights attorney and a national expert on civil rights, free speech, social justice, and campus culture. He most recently served as the vice president for diversity and community engagement at the University of Texas at Austin, where he acted as a university spokesman in the case of Fisher V. University of Texas. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the university's use of affirmative action in its admissions process. We'll talk to Vincent about his time at HWS as a student and what brought him back to the campus as its president. We'll also discuss issues in higher education: the importance of diversity at institutions, accessibility of education, free tuition at public colleges in New York State, and free speech on campuses.
Then in our second hour, our Summer of Food series continues with a discussion about...well, worm poop. Vermiculture is the process of using worms to decompose organic waste. Landfills make up 17 percent of the nation's methane emissions, and companies like Organix Green Industries are using vermiculture to keep organic waste out of landfills and recycle it for a variety of uses. Organix Green Industries is partnering with a number of local organizations and municipalities to make vermiculture and composting more mainstream and help communities reduce their food waste. CEO Jacob Fox joins us to talk about the process, the impact, and his thoughts on the future of the industry.
