SPOKANE, Wash. — The Princeton Review recently featured Whitworth University as one of the "Best Colleges in the West" and a "Top Green College."
The Princeton Review featured 631 colleges in seven zones and Whitworth was considered one of the top academically outstanding institutions in the Western zone.
The Princeton Review uses interviews with more than 165,000 college students, surveys from administrators, staff visits to schools and opinions of college counselors and advisors in its ranking of top universities.
"We are delighted to recommend Whitworth to students who want their ‘best-fit’ college to also be a ‘green’ one,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review's editor-in-chief. “Whitworth offers excellent academics and also demonstrates a strong commitment to sustainability in its campus programs, policies and practices.”
In describing Whitworth, The Princeton Review editors wrote:
“Many find one of Whitworth’s greatest strengths [to be] its small class sizes, but overall the university simply provides a 'very supportive community with a positive attitude.' They also appreciate that the community places an ‘emphasis on Christianity in the classroom and among professors’ as well.
As for professors, one Whitworth Pirate notes ‘I really couldn’t ask for a better, more supportive group.’ Others agree, describing the faculty as ‘wonderful,’ ‘personable,’ and ‘extremely knowledgeable.’ Teachers are seemingly ‘always available for extra help’ and will ‘work independently to … create meaningful relationships [with students] that prove to last beyond college.’”
Whitworth was also selected for inclusion in “The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges.”
The university placed 80th in the guide, which profiles more than 500 colleges that foster a culture of environmental responsibility and demonstrate a commitment to sustainability.
Chris Eichorst, assistant vice president of facilities services and security at Whitworth, says Whitworth is committed to sustainability and continually seeks innovative ways to enhance its environmental practices.
“We are proud to say that we have a 76.5-kilowatt solar array on our aquatics center and get 705,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity from the solar farm in Lind, Washington, through Avista’s Solar Select program,” Eichorst said. “Additionally, we are optimizing our energy use on campus through building automation and diagnostics systems. We have been designated a Tree Campus Higher Education by the Arbor Day Foundation for the past six years, and nearly all our domestic water is from our own on-site water well.”
