The Sustainable Endowments Institute, a special project fund of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, based in Cambridge, Mass., was founded by Robert Monks in 2005 for the purpose of conducting research and education related to the sustainability of higher education endowments. In May of 2006, a survey targeting the 331 largest college and university endowments-which included all schools with $100 million or more in endowment assets-found that two-thirds of the institutions do not disclose university endowment investments and only a few included students in related decision-making processes.
Following up on the data presented by the survey, the Institute collected accessible information regarding sustainability practices of the 100 institutions, including the Ivy League and Big 10, with the largest endowments in the United States and Canada in order to determine how environmental consciousness and sustainability shaped the way the institutions used their resources.
"Linking campus sustainability efforts with endowment investment policies is important," said Mark Orlowski, executive director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute. "It assures a unified sustainability vision for the institution."
The Institute's findings were released in its College Sustainability Report Card, which took into account 26 indicators, from green building initiatives to endowment investment policies. Institutions were rated with one overall grade, from "A" to "F," in addition to grades in seven categories: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, endowment transparency, investment priorities and shareholder engagement. Of the colleges and universities surveyed, only four received level "A" grades; Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College and Williams College all received an "A-" grade. Twenty-two schools earned "B" grades, 54 earned "C" grades and 20 earned "D" grades. Twenty-six of the institutions received an average grade of "A-" or better when campus operations were assessed alone.
As far as campus operations are concerned, the consensus among the various departments and administrators appears to be that the grades Amherst received were fair.
"Dining Services is very pleased with the grade Amherst received. We have worked very hard over the last year and a half to increase our level of support in the area of sustainability (Local Foods) and will continue to look at ways of increasing that support," commented Direct of Dining Services Charles Thompson. "In the area of food composting and recycling, we continue to move forward in expanding our current recycling programs."
Five College Energy Manager Todd Holland believes that the grades, while fair, may not be entirely accurate as a result of a lack of publicity on various College energy-saving initiatives. "I think the grades are fair, but I think we are doing a bit more than we actively publicized," he said. "We haven't talked about what we did with the hockey rink. We are just finishing our work on the pool. A number of things that are going on that are a little bit under the radar."
In addition to the efforts of the College administration, College students are taking the initiative in promoting awareness about the report and the issues it addresses. Working to generate student interest, the College's spokesperson regarding the report, Caroline Shannon '07, is hosting several events in coordination with MassPIRG which will address environmental concerns and the role of the College.
One such event is the screening of "An Inconvenient Truth," in the Campus Center Theater at 7 p.m. today.