2008 Woodie Awards
Ripon Velorution Project rolls in with the class of 2012
Project seen as first in nation
Ken Leiviska
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: News
Incoming first year students will have to make a choice when they come to Ripon College next year - bring a car or receive a bike.
President David Joyce organized the one-of-a-kind program that begins the fall semester of 2008. If an incoming student signs a pledge not to bring a car to campus, he or she receives a brand new Trek 820 mountain bike, a Trek Vapor helmet and a MasterLock U-lock to keep for life as part of the Ripon Velorution Project (RVP).
"We have a walking campus, a biking campus - students don't need their cars," says Joyce. "That's how the idea kind of surfaced."
Joyce wanted to start some kind of incentive program to encourage the campus to become more environmentally friendly. These ideas were generated around the time many parking issues were very visible on campus and in the community last September.
In a few months, key partners came together to make RVP possible. Velorution is a play on the word 'revolution' with vélo, which means 'bike' in French, as the root.
Although the idea was originally the solution to a sticky campus problem, the RVP brings many different goals Ripon College has for its students to the forefront.
"We have an honor code," says Joyce. "A lot of people don't know that we have an honor code. This will be a way to also help people understand the honor code here."
Because the student will be making a promise, the college will reward that student with a bicycle. But, Joyce says, the goals of the program go beyond helping students keep a pledge.
"There are a lot of goals…it would highlight the fact that the road is gone…it highlights the fact that we pay attention to fitness…and obviously all of us here want to be more 'green,'" says Joyce.
Joyce says the initial planning to alleviate parking issues evolved into broader thinking about ways the college could accomplish many of its existing goals. Through this process, Joyce says the college was able to look at multiple facets of student life that really matter, while sticking to the ideals of the college.
President David Joyce organized the one-of-a-kind program that begins the fall semester of 2008. If an incoming student signs a pledge not to bring a car to campus, he or she receives a brand new Trek 820 mountain bike, a Trek Vapor helmet and a MasterLock U-lock to keep for life as part of the Ripon Velorution Project (RVP).
"We have a walking campus, a biking campus - students don't need their cars," says Joyce. "That's how the idea kind of surfaced."
Joyce wanted to start some kind of incentive program to encourage the campus to become more environmentally friendly. These ideas were generated around the time many parking issues were very visible on campus and in the community last September.
In a few months, key partners came together to make RVP possible. Velorution is a play on the word 'revolution' with vélo, which means 'bike' in French, as the root.
Although the idea was originally the solution to a sticky campus problem, the RVP brings many different goals Ripon College has for its students to the forefront.
"We have an honor code," says Joyce. "A lot of people don't know that we have an honor code. This will be a way to also help people understand the honor code here."
Because the student will be making a promise, the college will reward that student with a bicycle. But, Joyce says, the goals of the program go beyond helping students keep a pledge.
"There are a lot of goals…it would highlight the fact that the road is gone…it highlights the fact that we pay attention to fitness…and obviously all of us here want to be more 'green,'" says Joyce.
Joyce says the initial planning to alleviate parking issues evolved into broader thinking about ways the college could accomplish many of its existing goals. Through this process, Joyce says the college was able to look at multiple facets of student life that really matter, while sticking to the ideals of the college.
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