D- on Green Report Card

Yeshiva scored a D- in a recent survey conducted by the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) which assessed the environmental and investment policies of major universities. Yeshiva received the lowest awarded grade.

The College Sustainability Report Card considered seven categories in its rankings: administration, climate change & energy, food & recycling, green building, endowment transparency, investment priorities, and shareholder engagement. Yeshiva received F's in all categories except for climate change & energy and investment priorities, for which it ranked D and B, respectively.

The 100 educational institutions in North America with the largest endowments were evaluated based upon their concerns for sustainability, which the report defines as "meet[ing] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Four other schools received D-'s for their cumulative grades.

Yeshiva's poor showing on the Report Card is due in part to a failure on behalf of the administration to respond to the survey, senior administrators claim. The SEI submitted questionnaires via e-mail to the office of the president of each university as well as to each school's chief financial officer or similar official. Though Yeshiva's Department of Finance completed the endowment shareholder practices survey, the Office of the President did not respond to the campus sustainability policy survey. 90 percent of the universities completed the campus sustainability survey, which dealt with the environmental programs of the schools, as opposed to the endowment shareholder practices survey which focused on their investment policies.

President Richard M. Joel defended his office's silence to the SEI's request, citing the large volume of surveys which the Office of the President regularly receives. "We are very deliberate with responding to any of the surveys we have to respond to, such as government surveys and accreditation surveys. But we do not respond to a survey just because someone e-mails it to us."

In light of the fact that this was the first survey of its kind from the SEI and directed by a Harvard doctoral student, President Joel stated, "I am not prepared to say that someone who is a self proclaimed policeman is actually a policeman." He added, "I am not embarrassed about this university's stance on sustainability."

Yeshiva's individual grades in the Report Card reveal the omission of current policies and programs which, had they been known, would have improved the university's score. These include the school's recycling program; its participation in City Harvest, which distributes uneaten food from the Department of Food Services to needy homes and shelters; the availability of free trade coffee in the cafeterias; and administrative initiatives towards energy efficiency and environmentally sound building construction.

To counter the Report Card's claim that "the university has not taken steps to address energy efficiency or conservation possibilities," Associate Vice President for Administrative Services Jeffrey Rosengarten noted that "we were runner-up for an award for energy efficiency when we built the pool," which features an "energy efficient way of heating and circulating its humidity: a partially glass building which gives the pool a degree of natural solar heat."

Mr. Rosengarten added that "we were among the first to use non-incandescent lighting with motion detectors that turn the lights off when there is no one in the room, which saves both money and energy."

Regarding cooperation with Con Edison, Yeshiva's energy provider, Mr. Rosengarten asserted that "we have been great partners with Con Edison in this neighborhood. They work very closely with us to maintain the efficiency of our electrical use."

In terms of a "green building policy" which the Report Card states is inexistent at Yeshiva, Mr. Rosengarten said, "We care about conservation and environmental considerations" during building maintenance and construction. "One of the reasons why the Glueck Center isn't dug yet is that we have been working with the Department of Environmental Protection. We are spending money and time making sure that no environmental problems will arise once we dig the hole for the foundation."

Mark Orlowski, founder and executive director of the Sustainability Endowment Institute, defended the Report Card's omission of sustainability data on Yeshiva. "It's hard to get perfect data when a school is not responding," he explained. "We went to the schools looking for information. Yeshiva chose not to respond. We made several attempts, and we conducted the best independent research we could."

Mr. Orlowski mentioned that inadequate information was posted on Yeshiva's website regarding its sustainability programs such as recycling and City Harvest.

Four universities - Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Willaims College - received A-'s on the Report Card, whereas a majority of schools received C's. The report itself states that one of its goals is for different educational institutions to "learn from each other's experiences and adapt sustainability policies that work." Executive Director of University Communications Georgia Pollak affirmed that sentiment, speaking on behalf of the Yeshiva administration, stating that the report "is very valuable because we learn about areas in which we can heighten our awareness." Mr. Orlowski suggested that Yeshiva create a department comprised of students and faculty which focuses on sustainability. Yeshiva received an F in the administration category, which the Report Card explains is because the university "has no initiatives currently underway and no institutions exclusively dealing with issues of sustainability, on campus or elsewhere," whereas 30 percent of universities received A's in that category.

"One thing to look at among schools that received high marks, a common theme, was developing high collaboration between the administration and students [which could lead] to innovative programs and policies," Mr. Orlowski said.

Noam Joel (YC '07), president and founder of the Energy Club, agreed, but felt that environmental concerns must be promoted by the students. "Students need to voice their support for such undertakings and show the administration that they care about the issue," he said. "It is important for the student body to be aware of the issues and take the initiative towards fixing the problems."

Mr. Rosengarten confirmed the administration's interest in maintaining and improving the university's standards of sustainability. "It would be unfair to characterize the university as being uncaring about environmental issues," he insisted. "We spend far too much time, effort, and money and we have a lot to show for it."

Mordechai Shinefield contributed to this article.