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Aug. 20, 2014 – The Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, has again listed Allegheny College among the top colleges and universities in the nation for green initiatives, institutions that the Sierra Club calls “America’s coolest schools.”

“Our ranking aims to act as a guide for prospective students who seek a way to compare colleges based on the schools’ commitment to environmentalism,” says the Sierra Club on its website. “It also serves to spur competition, create aspirational standards, and publicly reward the institutions that work hard to protect the planet.”

Allegheny College was also included earlier this summer in the annual edition of the Princeton Review’s book “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 332 Green Colleges: 2014 Edition.”

The Princeton Review chose the schools for the guide based on a survey it conducted in 2013 of administrators at hundreds of four-year colleges to measure the schools’ commitment to the environment and to sustainability. The survey included questions on the schools’ course offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.

Allegheny, which has pledged to become climate neutral by 2020, has a long-standing commitment to promoting sustainability practices and solutions. Its commitment began in 1972 with the establishment of one of the first environmental science departments in the country and accelerated in recent years when the college became a signatory of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in 2007.

In 2012 Allegheny College was one of only 10 academic institutions in the nation to be honored by Second Nature and the ACUPCC in the Third Annual Climate Leadership Awards, which recognize ACUPCC signatory schools that demonstrate unparalleled campus innovation and climate leadership that helps transition society to a clean, just and sustainable future.