In the final months of 2022, The University received two honors that display its ongoing commitment to sustainability. The University was granted its renewal as a Silver level Bicycle Friendly University and was featured by the Princeton Review as one of the 455 Green Colleges.
A Bicycle Friendly University
For the second time in the past five years, the University has been honored by the League of American Bicyclists with a silver level Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) award.
The University is one of 37 nationwide universities/colleges recognized as Bicycle Friendly through its achievements on the 5 E’s: equity (a clean and transportable campus means getting rid of disparities of all kinds), engineering (creating safe and convenient places to ride and park), encouragement (promoting strong bike culture through bike sharing integration and route signage), education (teaching bike safety and skills to new bikers), and evaluation (emphasizes transparency and how to be a law-abiding biker).
The University’s biking program is coordinated by the Department of Transportation and Parking Management to encourage alternative modes of transportation, such as bicycles and scooters, in order to reduce parking demand and employee commuting costs. These efforts also promote a greener campus in alignment with the University’s sustainability efforts.
Some of the most noteworthy contributions made by the University include new bicycle parking infrastructure. The covered bike rack with solar-powered lighting near the Goergen Athletic Center and two fully enclosed bike stations on the ground level of Strong’s garage both offer weather protection and help ensure that bikes last longer. These new bike parking spaces have not only increased parking spaces to add up to 1500+, but some stations like the Strong racks have built-in, 24/7 access, to self-service repair stations.
Princeton Review Highlights Rochester as an Example of Green Colleges
The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition names the University of Rochester as one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the nation, given its commitment to sustainability, academic programs on sustainability, and the green practices around campus. In being named as one of the 455 Green Colleges, the University was featured for individual endeavors and collaborative efforts made by students, faculty and staff in the mission to Learn, Discover, Heal, Create—and Make the World Ever Better.
Through this honor, the Princeton Review’s Editor-in-Chief Rob Franek states, “We strongly recommend the University of Rochester to the increasing number of students who care about the environment and want their ‘best-fit’ college to also ideally be a green one.” This is a huge feat for the University, as Franek states that 77% of college applicants factor whether or not they apply for a university or college based on how committed the school is to mitigating climate change and having a green campus.
The Guide reviewed 713 colleges on a global scale, 455 of the 713 making it on the guide based on their score of 80+ (Princeton Review’s reviews these colleges on 25 different data points on a scale of 60-99).
Written by Lugardo Marroquin (’24)