Update: Hendrix College Goes Green

Its egg shaped. It only goes 25 mph and it has to be charged to work. Still though, with its uniqueness, senior Bradley Fogleman expects the electric cars to be the talk of the Hendrix campus after the holiday.

"No one will probably be able to see them until Monday but I think everyone is going to be pleasantly surprised and they will be excited about it," Fogleman explains.

The school purchased two of them at about $7,500 a piece. Spokesman Mark Scott says it will create a significant savings in gas and oil costs.

"It's just a priority of ours to look for ways to do things better and be more environmentally friendly way," says Scott. "It is a no brainer for us. It will pay off in the long run."

Right now Hendrix has 16 small maintenance vehicles and as those eventually go out of commission the school hopes to replace all of them with electric cars.

Scott says, "We think we are on the front end of doing these things and we want to be the first to try stuff out."

Like the only college in the state to add environmental studies major, offering classes with a green emphasis.

Then there's The Village at Hendrix, a green design. Soon it will be a walkable community of housing, shops, restaurants, and doctor's offices for both students and the community. It set to open late next year.

Scott Schallhorn runs the project and says, "You don't have to get in your car to buy a quart of milk or to the pharmacy or the doctor. You can walk out your front door, be there in a few minutes and it also promotes wellness."

They're all green initiatives, a college leading the way with its commitment one project at a time.

There are several other green projects on campus. They have an ecological house, the Environmental Concerns Committee, environmental interns and professors anxious to integrate ecological issues into their classes.

The college runs a recycling program that accepts glass and cardboard. The Hendrix Food Program is an initiative to trace the origins of cafeteria food, examine its local environmental impacts, and explore possible local and/or organic alternatives. However, the university's dining services department does not yet offer any notable amount of local or organic food.