Luther College is one of just eight colleges to receive an "A" grade from a sustainability group

The Sustainable Endowments Institute has given Luther College an "A" on its College Sustainability Report Card.  Just seven other schools nationwide have received the "A" grade--Brown University, Dickinson College, the University of Minnesota, Oberlin College, Pomona College, the University of Wisconsin and Yale University.  More than 300 colleges and universities from all 50 states and eight Canadian provinces were rated.

The Sustainable Endowments Institute gave Luther an "A" in seven of the eight areas--administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement, transportation, and investment priorities. The college received a "B" in endowment transparency.

"This remarkable achievement reflects the buy-in of our Board of Regents, the commitment of my colleagues in the administration, and the enormous amount of energy and dedication demonstrated by our faculty, staff and students, " said Luther College president Richard Torgerson.            

Luther has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent since 2003 and is committed to a 50 percent reduction by 2012.   Luther has broken ground on a new wind turbine near campus.  20 percent of the food used by Luther Dining Services comes from local producers.  Luther has also purchased a number of hybrid vehicles for its fleet.

A complete report on campus sustainability at Luther is available at http://www.luther.edu/sustainability/annualreport/.

More information about the College Sustainability Report Card is available at http://greenreportcard.org