Keene State College has been recognized, yet again, for its efforts and commitment to sustainability. For its “outstanding efforts to encourage bicycling” on campus, KSC has been named a Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) by The League of American Bicyclists.
Brendan Jones / Equinox staff
In categorizing universities, The League uses essential elements in five categories that are “consistent in making great places for bicycling.” These are known as the Five E’s, and include engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation & planning.
Awards come in five types: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Honorable Mention. KSC has been awarded silver, meaning the campus “definitely feel[s] welcoming to bikes, but there is still usually work to be done in two or three of the E’s to undergird the bicycling culture and opportunities,” according to The League’s website.
Green Bikes Coordinator Marcus McCarroll said KSC was eligible for the award because of the fact we have a Green Bikes program, we have various places to ride around the city and many of the residence halls have bike rooms to store bicycles.
As a program that falls at the “bottom of the totem pole when it comes to trickle-down of money,” McCarroll said, the program was given a $0 budget this fiscal year and he finds himself begging for materials, such as tires and patches, to effectively run the program.
In getting the recognition for the award, however, he said it feels good and is hoping to gain some recognition from it.
Dartmouth College is the only other university in New Hampshire to rank as a BFU in 2017, and they ranked Gold.
Jessica Ricard can be contacted at jricard@kscequinox.com
