�鶹��Ƶ Releases Environmental and Social Responsibility Report</h1> <article> <h1>�鶹��Ƶ Releases Environmental and Social Responsibility Report</h1> <p>swargo — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 23:12:16 +0000</p> <span>�鶹��Ƶ Releases Environmental and Social Responsibility Report</span> <span><span>swargo</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-04-22T19:12:16-04:00" title="Thursday, April 22, 2021 - 19:12">Thu, 04/22/2021 - 19:12</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>OBERLIN, OHIO -- �鶹��Ƶ’s first <a href="https://go.oberlin.edu/esr-report">Environmental and Social Responsibility Report</a>, released today, shares the many ways in which students, faculty, staff, and the broader �鶹��Ƶ community are working together to inspire the world we need.</p> <p>“We are committed to environmental stewardship and promoting social equity on college campuses and in communities across the country and world,” says President Carmen Twillie Ambar. “There is so much passion for this work in �鶹��Ƶ—both on campus and in the city—that we felt it important to chronicle the energy and drive. This report showcases just some of our ongoing commitments and progress.”</p> <p>�鶹��Ƶ leads by example, and the influence it holds among the nation’s top liberal arts institutions is amplified by its actions. The report provides a wide-ranging look at the efforts of �鶹��Ƶ to address environmental and social responsibility in three spheres of influence: </p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;"><strong>Campus Commitment</strong></p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">Since its founding in 1833, �鶹��Ƶ has been a community dedicated to environmental stewardship, social engagement, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The report covers �鶹��Ƶ’s many commitments on campus, where students, faculty, and staff drive change from all areas of the institution. For example:</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• In 2006, �鶹��Ƶ was first among its peer institutions to commit to achieving carbon neutrality. In summer 2021, �鶹��Ƶ will launch a multi-year, campus-wide conversion to geothermal energy, taking an important step toward the goal of being a carbon-neutral campus by 2025.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• When completed in 2000, the Adam Joseph Lewis Center forEnvironmental Studies was recognized as one of the top53 game-changing buildings of the past 170 years by Building, Design +Constructionmagazine.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• Over the last decade, the college has invested in a broad spectrum of energy-efficient technologies and installed a 10-acre solar array.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• Advocating for and advancing issues of social justice and equity have been central to the ethos of �鶹��Ƶ College since its founding. �鶹��Ƶ took an additional step forward last year when President Carmen Twillie Ambar launched the Presidential Initiative on Racial Equity and Diversity. The initiative was established in direct response to increasing injustice and racial tensions in America, and focuses on elevating and advancing �鶹��Ƶ’s more than 180-year commitment to the education and rights of Blacks in America.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;"><strong>Community Commitment</strong></p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">�鶹��Ƶ College and the city of �鶹��Ƶ are inextricably linked, as they were founded by the same people in 1833. The college sits in the center of the city with no boundaries to separate it—literally or figuratively—from the city of �鶹��Ƶ. The report explores community partnerships in education and service; environmental stewardship in the community; and work to foster strong social connections in the community. For example:</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• The college partners with more than 100 local social service agencies, schools, religiously affiliated service organizations, grassroots community initiatives, and municipal government entities that result in opportunities to give back. </p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• Each year, more than 1,200 students volunteer about 115,000 hours in programs such as teaching Spanish to elementary school students, serving as math and reading tutors, assisting with musical education, transporting donated food to nonprofit food pantries, and promoting a sustainable transportation system on campus and in the community.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• �鶹��Ƶ College is working closely with the city of �鶹��Ƶ to build an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable model of a post-fossil-fuel community. </p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;"><strong>Global Commitment</strong></p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">�鶹��Ƶ’s reach extends beyond its campus and its community—each year �鶹��Ƶ graduates launch careers in locations around the world. Through education, leadership, and service, they are academically prepared and personally driven to change the world for good. The report details �鶹��Ƶ’s work to educate the next generation of global sustainability and social responsibility leaders, including:</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• �鶹��Ƶ encourages its students to recognize interdependence among social systems, the natural environment, and economies, and model this intersectional approach in our own community in order to drive the world we live in today toward the thriving world we need for the future.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• Experiencing, understanding, and embracing other cultures is an invaluable part of an �鶹��Ƶ education. �鶹��Ƶ's global perspective is not limited to the classroom, but shines through in the experiences, living and learning spaces, and activities available to students.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">• The report provides a wealth of examples of alumni and faculty efforts, progress, and outcomes across a spectrum of environmental- and social responsibility-related initiatives.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">To learn more about �鶹��Ƶ’s dedication to environmental stewardship, social engagement, and commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion, see <a href="https://go.oberlin.edu/esr-report">INSPIRING THE WORLD WE NEED: �鶹��Ƶ’s Commitment to People and Planet</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>About �鶹��Ƶ</strong> </em></p> <p><em>Ranked among the nation’s top liberal arts schools, �鶹��Ƶ College is known for its exemplary academic and musical pedagogy and its commitment to social justice, sustainability, and creative entrepreneurship. The college, founded in 1833, holds a distinguished place among American colleges and universities as the first to grant bachelor's degrees to women in a coeducational environment and was a leader in the education of African Americans. The Conservatory of Music, a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, was founded in 1865, making it the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States.</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;">- ### -</p> <p> </p> <p>Contact:</p> <p>Scott Wargo<br> Director of Media Relations<br> 440-775-5197<br> Scott.Wargo@oberlin.edu</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Report captures a community dedicated to environmental stewardship, social engagement, diversity, equity, and inclusion.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2021-04-22T12:00:00Z">Thu, 04/22/2021 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Scott Wargo</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2369">Environment & Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3499">Climate Action</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">William Bradford</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>�鶹��Ƶ College Recognized by EPA as 2017-18 College and University Green Power Conference Champion</h1> <p>swargo — Tue, 01 May 2018 19:59:32 +0000</p> <span>�鶹��Ƶ College Recognized by EPA as 2017-18 College and University Green Power Conference Champion</span> <span><span>swargo</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-05-01T15:59:32-04:00" title="Tuesday, May 1, 2018 - 15:59">Tue, 05/01/2018 - 15:59</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>OBERLIN, OHIO — �鶹��Ƶ College announced today that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized it as Champion in the 2017–18 College and University Green Power Challenge. �鶹��Ƶ College currently uses more green power than any other school in the North Coast Athletic Conference.</p> <p>Since April 2006, EPA’s Green Power Partnership has tracked and recognized the collegiate athletic conferences with the highest combined green power use within the program. The Conference Champion Award recognizes the school that uses the most green power in a qualifying conference.</p> <p>�鶹��Ƶ College beat its conference rivals by using nearly 16 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power. �鶹��Ƶ College is procuring a utility green power product from �鶹��Ƶ Municipal Light & Power and also is generating green power from several on-site renewable energy systems using solar resources. This commitment to green power demonstrates a sustainable choice that helps to reduce the negative health impacts of air emissions including those related to ozone, fine particles, acid rain, and regional haze.</p> <p>According to the U.S. EPA, �鶹��Ƶ’s green power use of nearly 16 million kWh is equivalent to the electricity use of more than 1,000 average American homes annually.</p> <p>In the 2017–18 challenge, the 38 collegiate conferences and 109 schools competing collectively used nearly 3.6 billion kWh of green power. EPA’s Green Power Challenge is open to any collegiate athletic conference in the United States. To qualify, a collegiate athletic conference must include at least two schools that qualify as Green Power Partners, and the conference must collectively use at least 10 million kWh of green power. EPA will restart the 13th<sup> </sup>season of the College and University Green Power Challenge in fall 2018 and conclude it in spring 2019. For more information, visit: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/college-and-university-challenge" target="_blank">www.epa.gov/greenpower/college-and-university-challenge</a>.</p> <p>“We are very honored and proud to be designated conference champion in EPA’s College and University Power Challenge” said Meghan Riesterer, assistant vice president for campus energy & sustainability. “As a preeminent liberal arts college with a storied history of leadership in inclusion and sustainability, �鶹��Ƶ College strives to educate and inspire a multi-disciplinary way of thinking about the world that incorporates an ethic of environmental care, social equity, and financial responsibility. The advanced energy and power solutions of our physical campus result in a more resilient, de-carbonized operations that help us use our campus as an educational tool for student learning as well as acts as a model to higher education and beyond.”</p> <p><strong>About EPA’s Green Power Partnership</strong></p> <p>The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that helps increase green power use among U.S. organizations to advance the American market for green power and development of those sources as a way to reduce air pollution and other environmental impacts associated with electricity use. The Partnership currently has more than 1,600 Partners voluntarily using more than 48 billion kWh of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500® companies; small and medium sized businesses; local, state, and federal governments; and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visit <a href="http://www.epa.gov/greenpower" target="_blank">www.epa.gov/greenpower</a>. </p> <p>For more information about EPA’s College and University Green Power Challenge, visit the Challenge website at <a href="https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/college-and-university-challenge" target="_blank">https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/college-and-university-challenge</a>.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2018-05-01T12:00:00Z">Tue, 05/01/2018 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Office of Communications</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3499">Climate Action</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2369">Environment & Sustainability</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">John Petersen</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>