A scorecard released this week by the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave AU a D+ for environmental sustainability.
The organization, which ranked the top 200 universities with the largest endowments, gave AU good grades for composting and green buildings. But these grades were overshadowed by the university's lack of transparency in investments and poor shareholder engagement.
One could write this ranking off as yet another case of an organization grading AU on a complex issue with somewhat arbitrary standards and criteria. And this may indeed be the case. Still, this is probably a good moment to assess AU's green record, one the university seems very apt to publicize and less likely to abide by. Anyone who has seen the ubiquitous "The American Dream Is Green" golf-carts or the future School of International Service building plan might think that AU makes great strides in eco-friendliness. However, while these commitments show an admirable dedication, such changes only graze the surface of the problem.
For example, AU has not taken significant measures to conserve water despite the District's drought watch. Since the advisory was announced in early October, AU has not stopped its nightly lawn-watering sessions, and recently switched to hoses that cause less water run-off.
Besides the adoption of better water-use policies and other eco-conscious measures on campus, the university should also come clean to its students about its impact off campus. Currently, AU's corporate investment procedures are veiled in mystery, and students must resort to large-scale campaigns to urge divestment from corrupt companies and nations, such as Sudan. As of now, neither we at the Eagle nor the general student body are aware of the impact our tuition money is having on the global environment.
The American dream is green, but the university still has a way to go to make that dream a reality.
