Furman University Makes Top 50 Among Sierra Club's Cool Schools

GREENVILLE, SC – September 11, 2009 – The Sierra Club has ranked Furman University among the top 50 eco-friendly universities in the country.

Furman is No. 48 on the third annual “Cool Schools” list compiled by the club’s magazine, Sierra. After surveying sustainability experts at hundreds of schools, the magazine graded institutions in eight categories: efficiency, energy, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management and administration.

Furman received an overall grade of B, with the school posting especially high marks for efficiency and waste management.

The Center for Sustainability at Furman coordinates the school’s academic, co-curricular and community outreach activities related to sustainability. It’s meant to ensure that the resources and opportunities of this generation are available in the future through conservation and stewardship of the environment.

Eventually the Center for Sustainability will be located in the retrofitted Cliffs Cottage and will be named for retiring Furman president David E. Shi, who has championed sustainability at Furman and elsewhere in the higher education community.

The University of Colorado in Boulder was ranked No. 1 overall on the Cool Schools list. Among the top-ranked schools, Harvard University led the nation in energy efficiency, and Yale University was praised for revolutionizing its food operations.

Two-thirds of college applicants indicate that a school’s environmental report card influences their decision to enroll there, according to a survey published by The Princeton Review test-prep company and cited by the Sierra Club.

Go to http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200909/coolschools/ for more information on the Cool Schools list.