EFS Profiles
University plans the first 'green campus' in the country
John F Kennedy University
Orinda, California
Purpose: Greening the Campus
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John F. Kennedy University has announced that it will strive to become the first university in the United States to be designed in its entirety using "Green Principles." Charles E. Glasser, JD, university president, announced that, "The university's goal is to achieve, wherever possible, the integration of sustainable principles in the building of its new Concord campus, as well as its academic curriculum."
Glasser said the specific project goals include:
- Striving for the highest possible rating from the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy Efficient Design (LEED) rating system;
- Maximizing the use of green building materials throughout all aspects of design and construction, including campus furnishings;
- Designing the energy and water consumption needs using environmentally sensitive yet highly efficient methods;
- Integrating the principles of sustainability into the curriculum.
The university has obtained an option to buy a five-acre site on Galindo Avenue in downtown Concord, adjacent to the Concord BART station. Plans are to break ground in early 2002 and to begin classes there in the fall of 2003. "Once constructed," said Glasser, "The new John F. Kennedy University in Concord will serve as a beacon of environmental sustainability throughout our community and throughout higher education in the nation."
While several US colleges and university have completed sustainability construction practices in individual buildings, JFKU believes it would be the first university in the country to construct an entire campus implementing "Green Principles."
President Glasser recently joined more than 30 other college and university presidents at the President's Meeting at Oberlin (Ohio) College to address the environmental and sustainability challenges facing society. They were answering a challenge recently thrown down by Thomas Kean, Drew University president and former governor of New Jersey. Kean challenged his fellow presidents with the call to have "higher education provide the leadership to move society toward a more just and sustainable future."
The November 16 and 17 Oberlin meeting was hosted in part by Second Nature, a national nonprofit that helps colleges and universities make environmental sustainability a foundation for learning and for day-to-day operations of their campuses. This was the first time since the historic 1990 Talloires Declaration of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future that higher education leaders had come together on these issues.
Glasser said the JFKU Board of Regents has approved a resolution to integrate the principles of sustainability into the new campus in Concord. Glasser has been working with a number of leaders in the sustainability movement, including Jim Quinn, president and CEO of Collins Pine Company, who earned his MBA from JFKU in 1970 and was Alumnus of the Year in 1998. Quinn, also named Man of the Year in the timber processing industry in 1998, is a national leader in his business and in the field of sustainability. Others who Glasser is working with include David Orr, head of the Environmental Studies Department at Oberlin and an author and visionary in the field of sustainability; David Ford, president of the Certified Forest Products Council; and Bill Browning of the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Founded in 1964, John F. Kennedy University was one of the first institutions in the United States dedicated solely to adult education. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, its five schools offer degree programs in art, education, holistic studies, law, liberal arts, management, museum studies and psychology. Today over 8,000 men and women hold JFKU degrees. The university enrolls 1,850 students, who range in age from the 20s to the 70s, with an average age of 38. Seventy percent are women. JFKU is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Students often speak of two important aspects of their experience at JFKU: respect for their opinions and knowledge, and a simultaneous challenge to their intellect that pushes the boundaries of their understanding and knowledge.
For additional information:
http://www.jfku.edu/advancement/GreenProject.htm
This document was last modified on 02/20/2002 10:43:02 AM
© 2005 Second Nature, Inc.
