August 22, 2017

Sierra Club Names Lewis & Clark a Top Five Most Environmentally Responsible School

Sierra magazine has named Lewis & Clark one of its top 5 “Cool Schools” for 2017, an annual ranking that assesses 200 of North America’s most sustainability-minded colleges and universities. Lewis & Clark is the only liberal arts college on the West Coast to make the top 10.

Sierra magazine has named Lewis & Clark one of its top 5 “Cool Schools” for 2017, an annual ranking that methodically assesses 200 of North America’s most sustainability-minded colleges and universities. Lewis & Clark is the only liberal arts college on the West Coast—and the only school in Oregon—to make the top 10. This is the sixth year in a row the college has made the list. Lewis & Clark also nabbed the number 5 spot on Princeton Review’s 2017 Top 50 Green Colleges List.

As in past years, the raw data for the scoring came from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE) STARS self-reporting tool. Data is then assessed across more than 60 questions from energy supply and water usage to curriculum, transportation, waste management, and emerging institutional policies like fossil fuel divestment.

“Over the last decade, we’ve reduced our environmental footprint and advanced sustainability throughout the school,” said Amy Dvorak, director of sustainability for Lewis & Clark. “We’re proud to be part of a group of colleges and universities pushing one another to higher levels of achievement.”

At Lewis & Clark, we are grounded in our mission to cultivate global thinkers and leaders. We build on the best available scholarship and practice—recognizing the importance and interrelatedness of ecology, economy, and equity—to extend our research and actions beyond our campus and into the wider world. From classes in environmental studies to student-run gardens, Lewis & Clark integrates sustainability at every level.

Sustainability at LC

Environmental Law 

Environmental Studies