--- title: "'It Is Not Yet Too Late': Manhattan University Launches Sustainability Studies Minor as Pope Leo Calls for Care of Creation" url: "/news/sustainability-studies-minor" type: article date: 2026-09-25 updated: 2026-09-25 --- # 'It Is Not Yet Too Late': Manhattan University Launches Sustainability Studies Minor as Pope Leo Calls for Care of Creation # 'It Is Not Yet Too Late': Manhattan University Launches Sustainability Studies Minor as Pope Leo Calls for Care of Creation Manhattan University launches a Sustainability Studies minor, giving students across disciplines tools to address environmental and social challenges. Image ![Hand cradling digital globe. global sustainability goals, green technology, corporate environmental responsibility cleaner planet. ](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_327w/public/media/2026-09/sustainability-studies-3-3000x2000.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=QW9mhlj4) **RIVERDALE, N.Y. —** Opening the Season of Creation with a Mass at the Laudato Si' Village in Castel Gandolfo on September 1, Pope Leo XIV told the faithful that "it is not yet too late" to change course. "What has been used for destruction can be redirected toward life," he said, "toward the care of the poor, the nourishment of the hungry, and the safeguarding of creation." Three weeks later, as New York City marks Climate Week, Manhattan University is announcing a new Minor in Sustainability Studies, an interdisciplinary program that invites undergraduates from all three of the University's schools to take up that call within their own fields of study. Open to students in any major, the 15-credit minor brings together perspectives from environmental science, engineering, business, economics, public health, political science, sociology, and related fields. Students combine study within their own discipline with coursework outside their home school, giving them both disciplinary depth and cross-disciplinary range. For a Lasallian Catholic University, the timing carries particular meaning. Pope Leo's homily marked the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and began the five-week Season of Creation, which concludes Oct. 4 with the eighth centenary of the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi. Drawing on the theme of his message for the day, the biblical call to beat swords into plowshares, the pope urged the faithful to "transform harm into life." He described an "authentic ecological conversion" as one in which the effects of an encounter with Jesus Christ become visible in how people relate to the world around them, and he closed by inviting all to join St. Francis in "living and promoting that universal fraternity which is inseparably bound to the task of caring for creation." That conviction, that care for the earth and care for one another cannot be pulled apart, runs through the design of the new minor. Climate resilience, energy transition, environmental justice, infrastructure, public health, and corporate sustainability all call for people who can work across disciplinary boundaries and who recognize that the communities most exposed to environmental harm are often those with the fewest resources to respond. > "The problems students will be asked to solve in their careers will rarely arrive neatly packaged within one discipline," said Lawrence Udeigwe, PhD, Director of Integrative Programs for the ARCH Innovation Exchange. "This minor gives students the opportunity to bring different ways of thinking together and apply them to real problems that matter." > "Pope Leo is asking all of us to face how we live in the world and then do something about it," said Marcy Peteroy-Kelly, PhD, Dean of the Kakos School of Arts and Sciences. "That is very much the Lasallian tradition, and we take it seriously here. Our students in the sciences and the liberal arts already learn to look closely at the world. This minor asks them to act on what they see, working on real problems alongside the people who live with them every day." The minor's capstone, the Urban Sustainability Consulting Capstone, puts that idea to work. Students join interdisciplinary teams that partner with community organizations, public agencies, nonprofits, corporate partners, or campus community members to address an authentic sustainability challenge. Teams analyze problems, engage stakeholders, and develop actionable, evidence-based solutions, culminating in a professional consulting report and public presentation. The program also draws on Manhattan University's location in New York City, a living laboratory for exploring urban resilience, energy systems, environmental justice, infrastructure modernization, and public health. In his homily, Pope Leo invited the faithful to "pause from the frenzy of our daily lives" long enough to hear "the melodious voice of creation." For students in the Bronx, that invitation can begin in the parks, waterways, and neighborhoods just beyond campus, and the minor gives them the tools to respond to what they find there. Students begin with Introduction to Environmental Science and Sustainability, complete sustainability-related coursework within their home school and across another school, and finish with the applied capstone experience. The program complements a wide range of majors rather than replacing disciplinary specialization. Faculty and academic leaders from across Manhattan University's three schools developed the Sustainability Studies minor collaboratively, and it is part of the University's broader commitment to cross-disciplinary education through the ARCH Innovation Exchange. ## About the Sustainability Studies Minor The Minor in Sustainability Studies equips students with the knowledge, interdisciplinary perspective, and applied skills needed to address environmental, economic, and social sustainability challenges. The program is open to undergraduate students from across Manhattan University. [Explore the Sustainability Studies Minor](/academics/programs/sustainability-studies-minor) #### Media Contact **Robert Cole** Executive Director of Marketing and Communications **Phone:** [718-862-7993](tel:+17188627993) **Email:** [Academics](/news?category%5B232%5D=232) [Lasallian & Catholic Mission](/news?category%5B236%5D=236) ### About Manhattan University Founded in 1853, Manhattan University is an independent Lasallian Catholic institution located in Riverdale, NY that embraces students of all faiths, cultures, and traditions. The mission of the University is to provide a dynamic student-centered educational experience that prepares graduates for lives of personal development, professional success, civic engagement, and service to their fellow human beings. Manhattan University offers programs that integrate a broad liberal arts education coupled with a concentration in specific disciplines in the arts and sciences with professional preparation in business and engineering, ensuring graduates will excel in their chosen fields. The University consists of the Kakos School of Arts & Sciences, the O’Malley School of Business, and the School of Engineering. For further information, please visit [www.manhattan.edu](https://www.manhattan.edu).