The For the Sustainable Endowments Institute, Loyola may be full of maroon and gold, but not enough green.
institute gave the university a sustainability grade of C- on Oct. 7, a small improvement from the D- it received the year before. Yet, the criteria for the grade are, in some instances, too demanding, especially for a university of Loyola’s size.
Each year the Sustainable Endowments Institute puts out the College Sustainability Report Card, an independent evaluation of the measures a university takes toward becoming more sustainable.
The grade measures how well a university meets current needs without diminishing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
No schools received an A, and only 26 schools out of the 332 that were graded received an A-. Many of these top universities also had some of the highest endowments. Although there is no definitive correlation, it can be assumed that the universities with the highest endowments could invest the most money in sustainability.
In addition, it’s expensive to adhere to certain criteria. With the current state of the economy, it is hard for Loyola to make the changes that would improve its sustainability grade. For example, reducing greenhouse gas emissions is an expensive process.
Although the university is in the process of a greenhouse gas inventory, major changes will take time and funding.
The universities with the highest grades had full-time staff committed to improving campus sustainability, as well as investments in solar energy and other forms of alternative energy.
If these are the standards for receiving a high grade in sustainability, it’s no wonder that Loyola received an average grade. Those kinds of investments are simply unrealistic for most universities. It seems unfair to ask the same of a small university as a larger one with a larger endowment.
The methodology to tabulate the grade is also questionable. The institute sent out surveys for sustainability evaluation to the universities in June, a time that is not practical for most schools.
This, of course, is the time when most universities let out for the summer and run on a more limited faculty and staff.
Also, simply taking surveys is not enough to assess how much a university is doing towards becoming more sustainable. If anything, the institute needs to be visting the universities and making sure they are actually making the changes they claim in the surveys.
There are some positive aspects to the sustainability grade. It encourages Loyola to become more environmentally conscious and improve sustainability on campus.
These efforts are clearly visible around campus, such as through the biodegradable dishware and recycling. The university even created the sustainability committee as part of the work to improve.
Loyola’s small grade improvement may not seem like enough, but the C- that Loyola received is the average for sustainability grades.
Loyola is also in the beginning stages of making drastic changes in its sustainability efforts. The university is in the process of making more environmentally friendly changes.
Although Loyola has a long way to go in becoming more sustainable, the Sustainable Endowments Institute needs to reconsider its standards for grading universities.
