Publicity

Gordon has received much publicity from its commitment to sustainable practices. In fact:

• Gordon’s commitment to sustainability manifests itself on our website, our own Restore Creation Initiative, our former president, R. Judson Carlberg signing the Evangelical Climate Initiative, sustainability being a focus in the strategic plan, and countless efforts made by faculty, staff and students in big and small ways on a daily basis. 
   
• Members of Gordon’s community have published 39 scholarly publications on environment and sustainability this year (average number published annually over the last 3 years).
   
• Members of Gordon’s community have held 42 scholarly events related to the environment and sustainability this year (average per annum over the last 3 years).
   
• Gordon’s top three undertakings that represent its environmental commitment include:
  • Recycling (Gordon won the 2008 MA College/University Recycling Award)
  • Green Chemistry Practice and Teaching
  • Frost Hall Wetland Restoration Project

Because Gordon's president signed the Evangelical Climate Initiative, the College is not a signatory to the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

AWARDS

Gordon has won awards and belongs to a number of organizations that are also committed to sustainable practices.

• Gordon received national recognition as one of The Princeton Review’s “Greenest Schools in the Nation, 2012.”
   
• Gordon Wins Energy Solutions Contest
  The Scientist-Evangelical Initiative, a group of leading environmental scientists and evangelical Christians, was convened by the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School in 2009. With the goal of exploring the decline of the environment and to help reduce its negative impact, an Energy Solutions contest was created and a number of Christian colleges and universities were invited to compete, trying to make their campuses "greener." Gordon won the prize—an energy consultation with Terrapin/Bright Green, the architectural/engineering firm whose principal partners recently designed the world's "greenest" skyscraper.
  
  Terrapin/Bright Green was impressed with Gordon’s ongoing commitment to improving the campus through numerous conservation efforts. They were particularly impressed with the idea of working on Lane Student Center to improve air quality, water conservation, waste reduction and energy efficiency. After the contest, the firm conducted an energy audit and recommended ways to make Lane the greenest building on campus.
   
• MassRecycle awarded Gordon “Excellence in Recycling” in 2008. The College received a Green Binny award for its excellence in reusing, restoring and recycling. The Green Binny program honors individuals and organizations for excellence in contributing to the recycling efforts of the state and significant reduction in waste. In 2008, Gordon recycled 130 tons of materials—31 percent of all its trash. Today, that percentage has grown.

MEMBERSHIPS

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)

ADDITIONAL PUBLICITY

Every year, Gordon participates in the Campus Race to Zero Waste, a recycling competition that encourages waste reduction on college campuses. The tournament takes place over an 8-week period in the spring where colleges report on how much trash and recycling they’ve produced weekly. Schools are ranked on who recycles the most per capita. Each week, results are posted so schools increase their competition to continue to reduce their waste. Gordon has been a part of this competition over the last few years:

• Gordon is one of 461 colleges and universities participating in 2014.
• In 2013, Gordon was ranked 79 out of 273.
• In 2012, Gordon was ranked 97 out of 266.

Learn more ➔ 

Gordon ranked 142 out of 301 colleges and universities worldwide in the UI Greenmetric Ranking of World Universities 2013.

Gordon was listed in the “Green Awakening Report” by Renewal as an institution that participates in campus stewardship, sustainability, and has students active in the creation care movement. Renewal, a creation care network, seeks to encourage students to live sustainable lives. The editorial staff highlights 50 Christian campuses where the movement is the most active in the nation. Gordon received top points in the report for the Restore Creation mission on campus. Learn more ➔

Gordon was featured in an article by Karen M. M. Steensma, David R. Clements, John R. Wood, Randall Van Dragt, and Ben Lowe entitled “Stewarding the Gift of Land: Christian Campuses as Land Management Models,” in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, Volume 65, Number 2, June 2013. 

Gordon, one of the charter members of Au Sable Institute of Environmental Sciences, regularly sends students to study there and has a Gordon faculty representative serves on the academic council. Au Sable has a track in sustainable development. Learn more ➔