The Hippies Go Back to School

Penned by Nick

Saturday’s NY Times article entitled “Green, Greener, Greenest“, provides an interesting look into how regulatory and review systems, such as the Princeton Review’s annual college guide, can push forward the environmental movement. Students are clearly clamoring for greater environmental progress on campus, whether it be through their dorm food initiatives to go organic, class demand for environmentally focused lectures, or school politics that increasingly promote green policies as a pathway to election. What’s most fascinating about this decision are the numbers that support it, and the implications for college campuses going forward.

When a conservative heavyweight like the Princeton Review throws its weight behind a green rating, it invariably pushes the environmental agenda into every campuses design and policy discussions. What more, it refocuses students on real-world challenges, and roots their coursework in the goal of finding solutions to improving the very environment they value.

Little wonder this gets national press–hopefully we see a similar push throughout other countries.

Two other articles on the Times also caught my attention:

1) 7 examples of campus-wide initiatives that are creating a greener school: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/education/edlife/27bus.html?ref=edlife

2) Green charter schools and their fascinating curriculum: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/education/edlife/27charter.html?ref=edlife

Tags: academia

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