Sustaining our future
University of Oregon receives Princeton Review’s highest honors for sustainability
What begins with recycling a piece of paper, filling a reusable coffee cup, or riding a bicycle to campus, leads to more and bigger possibilities, says Steve Mital, University of Oregon director of sustainability.
“It starts with little things that become part of campus culture. Once you have that ethic it fades into the background. Then in the foreground is what we’re doing at the research and curricular levels,” says Mital. “Once you infuse that ethic into your culture it leads to classes, research, and projects that make this place special.”
So special, in fact, that the University of Oregon’s commitment to sustainability and environmental issues recently earned it the highest marks possible from The Princeton Review. The University of Oregon is one of eleven institutions in the country to make the review’s first-ever “Green Rating Honor Roll.” Click HERE for a web video and news release.
“Sustainability is in the DNA of the University of Oregon,” says UO President Dave Frohnmayer. “Maybe it’s because we live in a beautiful environment. Maybe it’s because we’ve learned to treasure the gorgeous world we live in, that we’ve become more conscious of the need to take care of it, and beyond that to watch our habits, to try to lead a healthy lifestyle. And I think that these things lead to a larger sense of our obligation to pass on something hopefully a bit better, maybe even a lot better, than we received it.”
More students than ever before are passionate about that obligation, which is one reason the University of Oregon offers more than 200 sustainability-focused courses in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The UO not only attracts top scholars and researchers in the field, but also grooms students and faculty members to play major roles on the world stage when it comes to sustainability.
The UO’s green chemistry program has been internationally recognized for its efforts to reduce hazardous waste. In addition, UO architecture, business, and law schools have especially green reputations. Numerous faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Journalism and Communication are widely respected for their research and teaching in sustainability. Dozens of cocurricular programs offer students opportunities to engage sustainability issues in a real-world context.
“In addition to the classes that they’ll take and the faculty engagement they’ll find, the fact that students are taking a leadership role with the issue of sustainability means a lot,” says Mital. “We have a node of intense interest that plays itself out in all kinds of fascinating ways.”