After two consecutive years of sub-par environmental grades, Chapman has resolved to get its act together.

Greenreportcard.org, a non-profit website that grades campuses across the country on their sustainability, gave Chapman a C minus for the 2008-2009 school year. The grade comes from not having transparent records of how trustees vote on environmental issues and how the school and investors spend money. This follows a D minus the year before.

The website automatically assigns an F if the voluntary survey is not returned. As a back-up response, the website searches the institution’s website to glean any information about green policies.

“I appreciate the role [the website] plays, but the approach is a little antagonistic,” said Christopher Kim, chair of the faculty environmental committee. “The primary reason for the D minus was a lack of response. There was a larger response this year.”

The D minus was a result of this forced grading policy, Kim said.

In 2010, Chapman was more diligent about submitting the survey, but the results were not much better.

Chapman received an F in Shareholder Transparency, which amounts to how trustees vote on environmentally sensitive issues. The school also received Ds in Endowment Transparency and Climate Change and Energy. The first concerns the institution allowing public access to investment holding and records of investor voting on environmentally friendly changes. The second is based on the school’s commitment to reducing emissions and use of renewable energy. The national average for these three categories is D, C minus, and C plus, respectively.

The website is an initiative of the Sustainable Endowment Institute, a special project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. It has published a college report card every year since 2007. Chapman has only been included for two years.

Harold Hewitt, executive vice president and chief operation officer, doesn’t agree with the rating system.

“My own opinion of why Chapman’s score was low in 2009 is that the rating was poorly informed,” Hewitt said in an e-mail. “President Doti is working with the Board to create new building projects that meet [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] standards.”

Even with a verbal commitment to the environment, Chapman finds itself behind in the game in California. Pomona College received an A minus, the University of California at Los Angeles received a B and Occidental earned a C.

This isn’t to say that efforts aren’t being made in Orange. This school year, Chapman founded the Student Sustainability Initiative, a program designed to increase awareness of the carbon footprint on campus and student involvement in sustainability.

“Ideally, we want to inspire students to change their behaviors,” said Justin Koppelman, coordinator for student civic engagement.

One of the bright spots on Chapman’s report card was food, for which Chapman received a B. Sodexo has begun using biodegradable utensils and flatware.

Diamond Contract Services, the campus’s custodial company recently purchased a Zamboni-like machine that uses 10 percent of the water needed to clean the sidewalks with hand sprayers. Other green efforts include requiring all paper used on campus to come from at least 30 percent recycled material and all new office appliances be Energy Star models.

“We need to publicize what we’ve been doing,” Kim said. “Up to this point we’ve been more concerned with doing it than showing it off.”

A full copy of Chapman’s report card can be found at: http://greenreportcard.org/report-card-2010/schools/chapman-university.


Contact this reporter: ryan.murray@thepantheronline.com