TCU Purple Bike Program: "Making TCU Green"

Fort Worth, TX

12/18/2006

Sociology professor Dr. Keith Whitworth created TCU’s new Purple Bike Program in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles on campus by encouraging students to ride a bicycle free of charge.

“I want people to begin thinking about their environmental footprint and its impact upon the campus, community and our planet,” Whitworth said. “It’s a mind set of thinking green.”

Whitworth decided to work with students in his Applied Sociology class to produce the first student-submitted grant for the project. “This is truly a student-initiated and student-led program,” he said.

The Purple Bike Program received a $4,080 TCU-funded Vision In Action grant, which is a fund designated by the board of trustees to be used for programs and initiatives that will change the face of the TCU campus. With the TCU VIA grant, they purchased five custom bicycles that include a basket, lock, helmet and free monthly maintenance.

Whitworth hopes that the Purple Bike Program serves as a flagship program for developing and strengthening other environmentally friendly programs on campus. “I want the Purple Bike Program to act as a catalyst for rethinking about the way we live,” he said.

Last month, students and student organizations had the opportunity to sign up for a purple bike raffle and designate whether they wanted the bike for a day, week or a month. “We want as many different students to try out the bikes as possible until we are able to purchase more,” Whitworth said.

Whitworth encourages “green” thinking in many ways, one of which is through www.envirofootprint.org. At that web site, an individual can calculate his or her emissions in an average day and learn about counterbalancing this pollution by donating to environmentally friendly projects. These projects include the Purple Bike Program, planting trees locally and planting trees in Costa Rica in order to prevent deforestation and the extinction of ‘The Great Green Macaw.”

For more information about the Purple Bike Program, contact Keith Whitworth by phone at 817-257-5941 or by e-mail at k.whitworth@tcu.edu.


Media contact:
Lisa Albert
Communications specialist
817-257-5061
l.albert@tcu.edu