The Up to Us initiative has allowed us to advocate for a redefinition of “debt.” To most, debt is solely economic, whether personal, local, state, national, or international. Yet, we paint with a broader brush stroke to include people, planet, and profit. The People component has been illustrated in our Up to Us educational filming project with Nubian Queen Lola in Austin who feeds and clothes the homeless. She defines Debt as Poverty and Poverty as Debt. At Texas State University through the Alumni Association, we take the Trade it Up tee shirts bi-annually to Nubian Queen. For the Up to Us launch in January, McCoy College Net Impact took 1,400 tee shirts for Lola to give to the needy, a timely donation since she had few clothes in her warehouse. Social debt can come in many other forms—unemployment, under-salaried work, school-to-prison pipelines—to name a few which will be the focus of several of the speakers this week during the McCoy College Business Leadership Week.

A Common Experience theme permeates through the Texas State campus of 37,000 students annually. This year the topic is Segregation to Integration, celebrating the 50th anniversary of our first African-American graduates and Texas State as a Hispanic-Serving institution. Evaluating and acknowledging social debt at either end of the spectrum, being based on unemployment, underemployment, or golden parachutes is a part of our project for Up to Us redefinition.

Environmental wealth and debt is important to us at Texas State for we are the only campus with the headwaters of a river, the San Marcos River, on our 450+ acres campus. In it are eight endangered species which must be protected in the midst of dense development and economic “progress.” San Marcos, Texas is the fastest growing city in the United States. During the last year, we struggled with Stage 4 Drought conditions. There are only 5 stages, and we came close to needing to repurpose non-potable water flushed from the toilet into potable tap water. Overwatering St. Augustine grass, having a growing population, building development around our land-locked campus and needing education for all citizens, we find environmental debt an urgent 21st century issue.

Economic challenges exist in our city too. One of its last annual reports states that the annual household income is $29,000 for a family of four. How do you survive without debt in a rapidly growing urban area with exponentially increasing expenses? How do we get the local, state, and national politicians to understand what the needs of the citizens look like without increasing debt exponentially? With the Texas Legislature in session, we met with Senators and Representatives on Friday to state the importance of reducing the debt and making wise choices of expenditures. Texas is a state funded by oil and gas. With gas at $1.79/gallon, the State’s income is dropping with the cheaper prices at the pump. Challenges are opportunities; opportunities are challenges. Debt is just that as we stay focused on the whole picture of people, planet and profit, for it is Up to Us to make the change.