Dickinson Aces Sustainability Report Card —Again

October 10, 2009

For the second time in as many years, Dickinson has received an A- on the 2010 Green Report Card, the highest overall grade given by the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI). Dickinson was one of only two Pennsylvania colleges to do so; the other was The University of Pennsylvania. Dickinson also earned recognition as an Overall College Sustainability Leader and a Campus Sustainability Leader.

The Report Card is an independent measurement for indentifying colleges and universities that are leading by example in their commitment to sustainability. Dickinson was one of 26 colleges singled out as leaders; others included Harvard, Yale and Stanford universities and Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, Pomona, Carleton, Oberlin and Macalester colleges.

Dickinson’s achievements in sustainability are reflective of the college’s broader commitment to excellence and innovation in higher education. “Though founded more than 225 years ago, the college isn’t stuck in the past, it is a college for the 21st century,” said President William G. Durden. “Dickinson is vibrant. We comprehend the world in which our students must live and work and we are attuned to the global demands of today, which is why we focus on an undergraduate education that is useful to the problems of our times.”

In the 2009 report, Dickinson also received an A-, up from the B+ it received in 2008. For the 2010 report Dickinson was awarded six A’s and two B’s and posted improvements in Student Participation and Endowment Transparency. The college continues to do more with less—18 of the 26 schools to receive an A- have endowments that are twice that of Dickinson’s and 13 have endowments of more than $1 billion; only five of the 26 have endowments smaller than Dickinson’s.

Now in its fourth year, the Green Report Card covers the colleges and universities with the 300 largest endowments in the United States and Canada, as well as 32 additional schools that applied for inclusion. The profiles of the colleges are created using information gathered through independent research as well as through voluntary responses from school administrators. For 2010, the research process collected more detailed, quantitative data by expanding its survey instruments. Grades are determined by assessing performance across 43 indicators in nine main categories: Administration, Climate Change & Energy, Food & Recycling, Green Building, Transportation, Student Involvement, Endowment Transparency, Shareholder Engagement and Investment Priorities.

According to the SEI, 68 percent of 12,715 high school students applying to college, who were recently polled by The Princeton Review, said that they would value having information about a college’s commitment to the environment.

The College Sustainability Report Card is published by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.