The College rarely gets a "B-" on anything. In last month's "College Sustainability Report Card," released by the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI), the College does; the visibility of this statement, and the issue's growing importance, demands our attention. Anyone familiar with the size of the College's endowment-which at over $1.3 billion ranks among the top 50 schools in the nation-will understand that its allocation is a considerable responsibility. The report card doesn't reveal the full picture of how this responsibility has been discharged with a close regard for sustainability. That's not to say there isn't room for improvement, and one lacking element has been student response to sustainability programs.

Much of the poor grade came from two "D" grades in the categories "Shareholder Engagement" and "Endowment Transparency" (the full report: http://www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability). The rationale for the former rating is a little ambiguous, but in the latter case more information on endowment allocations, particularly for sustainability efforts, need to be made public. Part of the reason for the overall "B-" is insufficient visibility of projects that the endowment sponsors. It seems to us that much is being done, but not necessarily seen. We suspect SEI's cursory research methods may have compounded the problem, but ultimately greater publicity will help to ensure that current and future sustainability programs are recognized.

Much of Physical Plant's share of the endowment, for instance, goes towards initiatives that many students (not to mention an external agency) would struggle to identify. A cogeneration plant now under construction will reduce the College's net current emissions by 50 percent, to levels below those recommended by the original Kyoto Protocol. College vehicles use bio-fuels almost exclusively. New buildings are designed according to high performance building guidelines, with energy-conserving thermal imaging and light sensing systems. All these, and the other uses of our endowment, must be made explicit. According to Physical Plant Director for Facilities Planning and Management James Brassord, a new online portal will form the cornerstone of the College's sustainability self-promotion campaign.

Given these developments in sustainability, it'd be a shame if students fail to do their share. Signing the Million Monitor Drive pledge or participating in the light-bulb exchange are gestures that don't require much effort or sacrifice. We've also found it strange that, for all the activist work of students here, advocacy for campus sustainability has remained a rare sight.

The report card doesn't perfectly portray the College's sustainability landscape. Its most useful aspect could be simply the attention it has generated on campus-you couldn't have missed the huge poster of the report card in Val atrium. Students, having realized that they can contribute easily to sustainability efforts right here on campus, must actually follow through. Only then-as professors often remind us-we needn't worry about grades.