Messiah College News Archive

Messiah College is one of the 322 most environmentally responsible colleges in the U.S. and Canada, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company profiles Messiah College in “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges.”

The Princeton Review chose the schools for this guide based on a 50-question survey it conducted in 2012 of administrators at hundreds of four-year colleges.  The Company analyzed data from the survey about the schools’ course offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation to measure their commitment to the environment and to sustainability.

To learn more about Messiah extensive sustainability efforts, visit www.messiah.edu/sustainability.

For the second year in a row Messiah College has received Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day Foundation. To obtain this distinction, Messiah has met the five core standards for sustainable campus forestry required by Tree Campus USA, including establishment of a tree advisory committee, evidence of a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and the sponsorship of student service-learning projects.

 Messiah College is one of 148 colleges and universities nationwide to receive Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day Foundation. Tree Campus USA recognizes sustainably managed college campuses and their commitments to effective community forestry management.

Tree Campus USA was launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation as a way to honor colleges, universities and their leaders for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of environmental stewardship.

Messiah College owns 450+ acres and much of that property is heavily forested and undeveloped. To promote the health, safety and beauty of Messiah’s trees, a sub-group of the college’s Sustainability Committee drafted a Campus Tree Care Plan. It was this plan that earned recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation. Key components of that plan include inventorying and digitally tagging all the campus trees.

David Foster, Messiah College professor of biology and environmental science, is managing a $35,800 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to plant a riparian buffer along 500 feet of a stream, located at the base of Cemetery Hill, which feeds the Yellow Breeches. The buffer will resemble a meadow; sycamore and other native trees will provide needed shade to keep the water cool for wildlife and to slow down erosion.

In addition, the grant will allow the College to install a rain garden in the area adjacent to the riparian buffer. This will catch runoff coming across the field from Grantham Road when that particular area floods. This half-acre rain garden will contain native plants that attract butterflies; it is expected to be completed by the end of summer.

Brad Markley, director of facility services, outlines for the Jan. 2012 issue of University Business the creative ways Messiah College is tackling expenses by reducing energy usage. He cites the construction of the solar thermal panels on North Complex and the implementation of energy efficient lighting in the dining hall and gymnasium as primary examples of how Messiah has helped offset rising utility expenses. 

Read “The Other Side of the Budget Equation.”

Following a successful year of effectively leading a Sustainability Committee comprised of students, faculty and staff as well as implementing several new campuswide creation care initiatives, Craig Dalen has been appointed Messiah College’s first full-time sustainability coordinator. (During the 2010-2011 academic year, Dalen served in this role on a part-time basis.)

“This is an exciting time for the college.  Students want to see our commitments to sustainability lived out in all aspects of the college, and we are currently at a place where we are experiencing integration from all areas of the institution: from student engagement, academics and operations.” Read the rest of this entry »

 Members of the Class of 2011 set a goal of raising $7,002 (which is the reverse of the year they started at Messiah College: 2007) to fund a restoration project on the Yellow Breeches Creek. More than 68% of seniors gave a total of $7,065.18 to the cause. This makes them the most generous class in College history in both categories of dollar amount and participation! 

The senior gift will be used to build a deflector downstream of Messiah’s beloved covered bridge. The deflector will function as a deterrent for erosion but also as a put-in and take-out spot for water recreation. These efforts are a part of a larger Yellow Breeches Restoration Project directed by David Foster, associate professor of biology and environmental science, and will begin this summer. 

Though erosion of the Breeches’ banks has been an issue for years, this gift couldn’t come at a more convenient time. A record setting rainfall this spring has caused the Breeches to flood more than usual. The overall restoration efforts intend to counteract flooding and other causes of erosion to preserve the Breeches for years to come.

 This is the third year that Messiah’s senior class has raised funds to further a sustainability project either locally or abroad.

You can read more about Foster’s overall plans for the restoration project as described in a recent Swinging Bridge article.

Starting in the fall, students living in apartments on campus will be presented with mock utility bills that show their apartment’s actual power usage. The goal is to educate students about the amount of energy they use and to motivate them to conserve by doing little things like powering down computers, using fewer lights, and taking shorter showers. The goal is a 3% reduction in energy usage in the on-campus apartments.

Messiah College has contracted with Edwin L. Heim Company to install 112 solar panels on the roofs of a complex of student residence halls on the college’s Grantham campus to create the region’s largest solar thermal system. Construction will begin in mid-May and be completed by October. The panels will be installed on the roofs of the three residence halls—Miller, Hess and Grantham—that comprise Messiah’s North Complex. All the domestic hot water needs of those residences—totaling 113,000 square feet and about 470 students—will be met by this extensive, energy efficient solar collection system. Read the rest of this entry »

 PPL, a local electric utility, offers incentives, rebates, and discounts for institutions that demonstrate their commitment to reducing energy usage in a variety of ways including lighting, appliance recycling, and renewable energy sources, for example.

Messiah was recently offered the opportunity to join PPL’s E-power Energy-Smart Honor Roll for businesses.