FAMU was selected as one of The Princeton Review’s “311 Green Colleges: 2011 Edition.” The university was the only historically black college or university (HBCU) to make the list, which focused solely on colleges that have demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation. “This accolade is indicative of the work of many,” said FAMU Environmental Health and Safety Department Senior Environmental Specialist Ryan Mitchell. “Our sustainability efforts include input from facility operations, academics and administrative oversight from the Environment and Sustainability Council. However, the real impetus here is in providing our students with a healthy, eco-positive space within which to work, study, live and thrive.”
This was FAMU’s first year on the list.
“Our Rattlers are leading the charge for clean energy and sustainability in the nation, in HBCUs and in frontline communities like ours,” said Mitchell, who added that his goal is to see FAMU become the No. 1 HBCU for sustainability. “Increasingly, students are making their choice of college based on that school’s commitment to the environment and being green. As students become more eco-conscious, so do their choices.”
FAMU Green Coalition student leader Ariana Marshall said she is appreciative of the university community’s hard work toward making FAMU a “green” school.
“Being the largest HBCU, we always knew we were capable of driving the momentum of the ‘green’ movement on campuses similar to ours,” said Marshall, an Environmental Sciences Student Organization (E.S.S.O) member and a Ph.D. student in the Environmental Sciences Institute. “By exemplifying our inherent methods of sustainability and through this ranking, we hope to continue to focus our campus and other HBCUs on the necessity of sustainability.”