News and Events
EASTERN UNIVERSITY EARNS GREEN POWER AWARD FROM PENN FUTURE
100% of St. Davids campus electricity usage comes from emission-free wind energy
St. Davids, PA, October 19, 2007: Why would college students vote to voluntarily pay an additional fee to help offset the costs of wind energy? At Eastern University in St. Davids, PA, this is just what the students have done. This Christian university, committed to the core values of faith, reason and justice, has fulfilled a commitment first made by its students in 2002 to achieve 100% wind energy for its electrical usage. This achievement has earned Eastern University the 2007 Green Power: Turn It On Award from Penn Future, the organization that promotes the development of renewable energy sources in Pennsylvania.
Bettie Ann Brigham, vice president of student development, said that 950 Eastern students chose to pay the optional $25 wind energy surcharge this semester. The Award, presented Oct. 16 at the Hilton Inn in Philadelphia, PA, is the culmination of a five-year plan to make the St. Davids campus fully wind-powered. According to Brigham, Eastern achieved that goal in just four years. She said, “Most parents and students feel good about our wind energy. It’s a constant prayer of trying to be responsible with this beautiful environment that we have.”
Eastern President David Black says, “Environmental stewardship is an essential component of the University’s mission, and this wind energy purchase is just the latest demonstration of our ongoing commitment. After considering the damaging effect of fossil fuels on the health of the globe and its people, our students have concluded thoughtfully that this ethical issue demands a response. These are the same students who choose to drink only coffee grown by those paid a living wage. And it’s the same University whose economic development graduates have helped create more than a million jobs in the two-thirds world. Eastern students are never limited by geography, but take seriously our mission of social justice for the whole world.”
Eastern University is a Christian university of the arts and sciences, which enrolls approximately 4000 students in its undergraduate, graduate, professional, urban, Seminary and international programs. For more information about Eastern University, call 610.341.5930 or visit www.eastern.edu.
