L&C publishes list of best college-ranking companies, Princeton Review mysteriously absent

Hey, did you know that in April 2010 (that’s last month, you guys), Princeton Review published a list of the 286 Greenest Colleges?

Oh, you didn’t? Well, here’s the reason I’m writing about this:  guess where Lewis & Clark ranked!

If you guessed anything between 287 and infinity, you may be correct!

We even lost to South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, which, aside from having a quaint and mockable name, is proud that it  received $30,ooo and an endorsement from Halliburton.

yeah that Halliburton.

So, why were we left out?  I don’t know, but I have brainstormed a few possibilities:

1. Perhaps we are actually not that “green.”
2. Perhaps we didn’t play nicely (intentionally or otherwise) with Princeton Review or whomever crunched the data on their behalf.  I know that the college doesn’t have time to bend backwards for every rando making a list… perhaps we just didn’t make available enough information to be included.
3. Perhaps PR dropped the ball/didn’t know the ball existed to begin with.

As for #1, I disagree.  Or, at least I think I do, and here’s why:

• We have a LEED certification requirement for all new projects, and have numerous examples of LEED-certified (and Silver, and Gold) buildings.
• We are longtime partners with Bon Appetit.  The Bon won’t even make you goddamn hashbrowns for breakfast if they can’t do it sustainably.  This is the company that actually stopped using bananas for awhile because of the carbon footprint.
• The strength of our Environmental Studies program/Environmental Affairs Symposium/community service recognition/remember this thing?
• Icing on the cake (possibly the entire cake as well): we have arguably the best Environmental Law school in the country.  No asterisks, no qualifiers.
• DID YOU NOT EVEN LOOK AT THE WEBSITE THEME?!

So, if it’s not number 1, maybe it’s number 2.  I hope not.  Princeton Review, like any other organization that culls student testimony, has its share of problems with veracity and reliability (the only people who are compelled to share opinions are people who either really hate the school or really love it), but it’s also a huge resource that every prospective student consults.  Even if we disagree with Princeton Review’s methods, it doesn’t mean we are above needing their help when it comes to advertising to new students.

I can’t speak to number 3 either… I don’t really know the ins and outs of public relations, or how one gets in cahoots with an organization like Princeton Review.  What I do know is that our website’s link about our own sustainability in comparison to that of other colleges returns a 404 error.

EDIT: The website functions correctly once again! Woo!