News

Has your school signed the Presidents Climate Commitment?

More than 420 institutions have pledged to pursue climate neutrality on their campuses

As a member of the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC), NIRSA encourages all of our members in their efforts to make their facilities and operations greener.

Sometimes the initiative to build and operate sustainably comes from collegiate recreation departments, and sometimes it comes from the top. NIRSA Executive Director Kent J. Blumenthal attended the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment Summit in Washington, DC in June (see background story). This is a group of more than 420 college and university presidents who pledge to pursue climate neutrality on their campuses. Is your campus one of them? See the list at the ACUPCC website. If your campus is not listed, consider approaching your administration with a request to do so. The ACUPCC has a letter of support template on their website.

While each president comes up with a comprehensive plan to achieve their ambitious goals, they are encouraged to take a number of steps in the meantime, for example, "Establish a policy that all new campus construction will be built to at least the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Silver standard or equivalent." As college and university presidents commit to sustainability and begin to implement plans that affect the operations of the entire campus, NIRSA Members will become increasingly more involved in the higher education sustainability effort. HEASC offers a lot of wonderful resources on their website to help you get started.