POULTNEY—Green Mountain College continues to attract nationwide attention as one of the nation’s top colleges for environmental programming and operations. Sierra, the official magazine of the Sierra Club, announced today that GMC ranked eighth in the nation in its annual “Cool Schools 2014” survey.
Sierra’s “Cool Schools” list recognizes colleges and universities that are creating tangible change in all categories of greenness–from what’s served in dining halls to what’s taught in lecture halls to what’s powering the dorms. This was the fourth time in five years that GMC has ranked among Sierra’s top ten schools.
“For eight years Sierra magazine has encouraged America’s colleges and universities to fully embrace their unique and multifaceted role in tackling the climate crisis and protecting America’s air, water, public health and beautiful places,” said Bob Sipchen, Sierra magazine’s editor in chief. “From innovative research and development to powering campuses with wind and solar, to educating students in the most advanced thinking on sustainability, colleges and universities are leaders and models for the rest of society. Sierra magazine congratulates those that made our annual ‘Coolest Schools’ list.”
GMC also received a perfect “99” green rating in the 2015 edition of The Princeton Review’s “The Best 379 Colleges” guide released last week. The Princeton Review tallied scores of 861 higher education institutions based on environmentally related practices, policies and academic offerings on a scale of 60 to 99. Only 24 colleges nationwide received a perfect score, and this was the third year in a row that GMC has made the Princeton Review’s Green Honor Roll.
“Green Mountain’s strategic plan, Sustainability 2020, keeps us on the cutting edge of sustainability in academic programs and operations,” said Aaron Witham, GMC’s sustainability director. “Our students, staff, and faculty are always thinking about how to push us into the next frontier. Most recently, a student class project evolved into a campus policy to ban the sale of bottled water on campus.”
