The Schenectady County Legislature at its meeting Tuesday, May 11, honored the College for its sustainability efforts and its recent inclusion in The Princeton Review’s first “Guide to Green Colleges.”
The free guide, produced in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council, includes schools that have “demonstrated an above average commitment to sustainability in terms of campus infrastructure, activities and initiatives.”
CAMPUS KITCHENS project
The guide is based on a survey of hundreds of colleges nationwide. Data examined include institutional commitment to LEED building certification, environmental literacy programs, formal sustainability committees, use of renewable energy resources, recycling and conservation programs, and more.
On hand at the county meeting to accept the honor was assistant biology professor Jeff Corbin, assistant chemistry professor Laura MacManus-Spencer, Erin Delman ’12, Jill Falchi ’10, Meghan Haley-Quigley ’11, Shabana Hoosein ’11, and Terry Miltner and Fred Puliafico from Facilities.
The resolution reads:
A RESOLUTION HONORING UNION COLLEGE FOR ITS LISTING AS ONE OF THE “GREENEST COLLEGES" IN THE UNITED STATES
WHEREAS, Union College has been listed by The Princeton Review’s first “Guide to Green Colleges” as among the country’s most environmentally responsible colleges; and
WHEREAS, the Guide is based on a survey of hundreds of colleges nationwide and their commitment to environmental concerns; and
WHEREAS, Union College was selected for the work of its U Sustain Committee, made up of about 70 environmentally and socially concerned students, faculty and staff who guide the College’s sustainability initiatives; and
WHEREAS, among its efforts are the College’s Presidential Green Grants, Octupus’s Garden, Union’s organic community garden; and the school’s commitment to wind power; and
WHEREAS, in 2007, President Stephen Ainlay was among the first to sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, pledging to formally work on reducing and eventually eliminating, campus global warming emissions; now therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Schenectady County Legislature acknowledges the honor bestowed on Union College for being listed as one of the "Greenest Colleges” in the United States.