Diethelm recognized as senior scholar athlete of the year

POULTNEY—Green Mountain College goalkeeper Carl Diethelm of Asheville, N.C., was awarded the prestigious North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Senior Scholar-Athlete, in a release by the conference office on May 2. The senior also was awarded with a place on the NAC Sportsmanship Team.

NAC All-Conference selections are determined by a vote of the conference coaches.

On the field, Diethelm has been a three-year member of the men’s lacrosse program as the team’s starting goalkeeper. Over his career he has established program records for wins in a season and ranks among the top five in minutes played, saves and goals against average since the college affiliated with the North Atlantic Conference in 2008-09. He also is the goalie with the most wins in Green Mountain College history since the Eagles joined the NAC. Diethelm was the starting goalie for the program’s first-ever trip to a NAC Championship game in 2015.

Diethelm’s contributions extend to the campus community as well and he has been an integral part of the college’s reaching its sustainability goals and carrying out its mission.

Known as “Compost Carl,” Diethelm has exhibited his passion for reducing food waste and promoting food justice. He led a successful effort on campus to reduce post-consumer food waste from 800 pounds in a week to 600 pounds. He also worked with the college’s dining hall provider to redistribute food that can’t be served in the dining hall to local people who need it.

His commitment to tackling the post-consumer waste challenge is recognized beyond the boundaries of the GMC campus. In 2016, Diethelm was one of just 60 students nationwide to earn a coveted Udall undergraduate scholarship. The Udall scholarship is offered to college sophomores and juniors who demonstrate exceptional leadership and action on environmental justice issues.

As the president of the Student Campus Greening Fund, he was in charge of directing funds to proposed projects on campus. Diethelm was also the sustainability office manager where he recruited, hired and supervised a team of nine student workers as well as conducting three waste audits.

As the organics outreach coordinator, Diethelm notified over 100 restaurants about Vermont Act 148 universal recycling law requirements for composting. Four of his articles were published in the Mountain Times to raise awareness about the different requirements of the law. He hosted a backyard composting panel that brought 40 residents and experts to discuss how to improve their compost systems and comply with Act 148. For additional outreach, he created an informational video that was broadcast on the public news station and initiated a website update.

As a waste diversion specialist he oversaw compost and recycling transport to proper locations. Under his guidance, the office diverted over 50 tons of recyclable and compostable material during his two-year tenure. Diethelm implemented Project Clean Plate, which resulted in a 25 percent reduction of weekly post-consumer food waste from students.

Photo courtesy of Green Mountain College
Carl Diethelm