News & Events
Green Mountain College Hosts 175th Commencement, Graduates Largest Class
POULTNEY—As tradition dictates, Green Mountain College graduates made the half-mile walk from the Methodist Church on Main Street to the Griswold Library lawn on campus. Green Mountain awarded a record 156 undergraduate degrees and 27 graduate diplomas at commencement exercises today.
One big surprise occurred during the presentation of degrees when Army staff sergeant Erich Schmidt appeared on stage to hand Chanleigh Casey of Granville, N.Y. her diploma. Casey’s father is serving in Kuwait and could not be present at the ceremony, so Schmidt, a long-time family friend, was there to greet the delighted graduate.
Speaker Majora Carter, a notable entrepreneur and community organizer, charged students to work hard toward equality in their chosen field. The youngest of ten children growing up in the South Bronx, Carter graduated from Bronx High School of Science, studied film at Wesleyan University, and received an MFA from New York University in 1997. She began volunteering for a youth development and arts organization and secured a $10,000 grant to provide seed money for river access restoration projects along the Bronx River on land dominated by blighted post-industrial landscape.
Working with other community groups, corporate neighbors, and the New York City Parks and Recreation department, Carter leveraged the grant into over $3.27 million in funding to build Hunts Point Riverside Park.
Carter later founded and led Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx), a non-profit organization dedicated to economic and environmental development under the guiding principle: “You shouldn’t have to leave your neighborhood to live in a better one.”
Also receiving an honorary degree was Cornelius “Con” Hogan of Plainfield, who served as Vermont secretary of human services from 1991 to 1999 and as commissioner for the Department of Corrections from 1977 to 1979. He is also a member of the Green Mountain Care Board, which is charged with oversight of health care policy in the state.
Student speaker Elizabeth Cerezo, a cum laude graduate majoring in psychology from Puerto Rico, described the past four years as an exercise in building a new family. Cerezo recently received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and has been accepted into a Ph.D. program in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Washington.
Students Win Internships, Research Opportunities
In recent years the Green Mountain College has ramped up its efforts to give students a leg up on preparing for graduate school and the working world. The College guides students in applying for nationally competitive summer internships and research experience for undergraduates (REUs).
“For a small school, we have an impressive number of success stories,” says Jennifer Sellers, assistant professor of psychology and Academic Awards Coordinator. “We also help students identify scholarships, fellowships and awards that give them outstanding credentials and the skills and experience they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”
Here is an updated list of students participating in internships or REUs this summer:
Lan Tran – Internship, New York University
Brad Loomis – REU, Field Museum in Chicago
Emma Lord – REU, Western Kentucky
Lara Baxter – Internship, Boston Aquarium Internship
Kristina Seitler – REU, Dartmouth College
Alexandra Hilliard – REU, Miami University in Ohio
Jacqueline Caster – Internship, National Seashore Cape Cod Intern in Sea Turtle and Marine Mammal Rescue
Kim Barret - Internship, Vermont Parks
Nelson Villa-Santana- REU, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratories
Sean McNamara- REU, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Scholars in Residence Announced for Graduate Program
Scholars in residence for the College’s Masters of Environmental Studies program in 2012 are husband and wife duo Juliet Eilperin and Andrew Light. Light is associate professor of philosophy and environmental policy and director of the Center for Global Ethics at George Mason University. Eilperin is a journalist and author who has covered environmental issues for the Washington Post. more...
Energy Dashboard Up and Running
On Friday afternoon, students, faculty and staff gathered in Withey Hall to witness the unveiling of the College's new energy dashboard. President Fonteyn and Katie Emerson '13, cut a green ribbon draped below the monitor and touch screen installed in Withey Hall lobby.
With initial funding from the Student Campus Greening Fund, the event culminates a two-year effort to design a system that provides real-time data of electricity consumption in residence halls and energy produced by the new biomass facility. Developed wi>th the assistance of Temperature Controls of Vermont, the dashboard represents part of a comprehensive energy management system on campus. This system is comprised of web controls (where facility managers can control a building's functions and performance), energy reports (which track input from the driver and where data resides for review and trending analysis), and finally, the dashboard, which streams energy data in real time. More
Green Mountain College Second in Nation in Sierra's "Coolest Schools" Rankings
For the second year in a row, Sierra magazine has placed Green Mountain College among the top schools in the country for environmental programming and operations. GMC is ranked second in the nation in the magazine's fifth annual "Coolest Schools" list, which recognizes colleges and universities for their efforts to address climate issues and operate sustainably.
The cover story in Sierra magazine's September/October issue cites Green Mountain College for its commitment to sustainability in several categories including energy efficiency, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, administration, and financial investments. It applauds GMC for achieving climate neutrality earlier this year through a combination of efficiency, large-scale adoption of clean energy, and purchase of local carbon offsets through the Central Vermont Public Service "Cow Power" program. Green Mountain College was Sierra's number one pick in 2010.
"Each year Sierra does an exhaustive evaluation of colleges and universities, from classes and curriculum, to the way they heat and power their campuses," said Paul Fonteyn, President of Green Mountain College. "To be among the top two schools in the country for two years running shows our continuing commitment to be more sustainable in our programs and operations."
Green Mountain College Receives a Top Ten Ranking in Princeton Review’s Best 376 Colleges
Classes are small and discussions are lively at Green Mountain College. That's why GMC ranked 6th in the nation in the Princeton Review's "class discussions encouraged" category. The evaluation appears as part of the Princeton Review's The Best 376 Colleges 2012 edition released this week.
Only about 15% of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and three colleges outside the United States are profiled in the book, which is The Princeton Review's flagship college guide. It includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories, plus lists of top 20 schools in the book in 62 categories based on surveys of students attending the colleges.
"We commend Green Mountain College for its outstanding academics, which is the primary criteria for our selection of schools for the book," said Robert Franek, Princeton Review's Senior VP/Publishing and author of The Best 376 Colleges.
GMC is Climate Neutral
In 2011, Green Mountain College became climate neutral. GMC is only the second college in the nation to achieve this goal, and the first to do it through efficiency, adoption of clean energy, and purchase of quantifiable local carbon offsets.
What is climate neutrality? In the broadest sense, it is a condition we achieve when we remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as we emit.
An unintended consequence of the fossil-fuel economy is an unsustainable release of greenhouse gases that have altered the earth’s climate. The challenge faced by the human race is truly global in its extent. But by taking responsibility for our behavior in our own lives and communities, we can live more mindful, sustainable lives.
Since 1995 when Green Mountain College declared its environmental mission, we have been striving to recycle, reduce, and replace. This means examining carefully how we travel, how we eat, how we heat and power our living spaces. Through active student involvement and a dedicated campus community, we continue to work to improve efficiency on campus, demonstrate new and innovative renewable technology, and learn from a rural Vermont setting how to lessen our impact on the natural environment.
GMC's road to climate neutrality is a story with many contributors including students, faculty, staff, government agencies, private foundations, and friends in the Poultney and Vermont community. Strong partnerships and collaboration on sustainability projects is a key component of this achievement.
