Hobart and William Smith Colleges

College Sustainability Report Card 2009

President Gearan signed the Presidents Climate Commitment. Hobart and William Smith Colleges purchase Energy Star appliances and Green Seal-approved cleaning products. The Presidents Climate Commitment Task Force, consisting of administrators, students, faculty, and staff, oversees the planning and implementation of all green initiatives.

The Finger Lakes Institute research facility uses solar, wind, and geothermal technology to provide 85 percent of its total power. Overall, 5 to 6 percent of the campus’s energy use is derived from wind sources. Hobart and William Smith students completed an emissions inventory. Buildings and grounds has replaced 2,500 bulbs with fluorescent tubes.

Dining services purchases 18.5 percent of its food products from local sources, including a dairy. There is a reusable coffee mug discount program and fair trade coffee is available. The colleges have a traditional recycling program with a 29 percent diversion rate. Excess food is donated to a local food bank.

New residence halls and academic buildings incorporate green furniture, materials, and upholstery. LEED-certified modifications are being planned as old buildings are renovated. Lighting upgrades have been completed.

Students interested in the environment may live in the Green House, where residents sponsor composting projects and energy campaigns. The Climate Task Force offers a paid internship position to students as of 2008. The Campus Greens group sponsors a campus-wide competition, Caught Green Handed, during which students receive buttons and are entered into raffles for prizes if they are caught recycling.

Students initiated a community bike program that lends bikes for free. Buildings and grounds purchased two electric carts and students converted a campus truck to run on electricity.

The colleges make a list of endowment holdings available to trustees, senior administrators, and other select members of the school community. This information is available at the investment office. The colleges do not make shareholder voting records public.

The colleges aim to optimize investment return and currently invest in renewable energy funds.

The colleges do not have the ability to vote proxies, as the entire endowment is invested in mutual funds.