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CU Environmental Center Director Dave Newport was awarded the 2024 Environmental Legacy Award by the Green Sports Alliance in recognition of his part in CU Athletics and the Pac-12 Conference’s global sports sustainability leadership.

In presenting the award, former Pac-12 Conference Deputy Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich cited Newport’s partnership with CU Athletic Director Rick George, the Green Sports Alliance and the Pac-12 Conference.

“I could not imagine a more worthy honoree for the GSA Environmental Legacy Award as your work with CU Athletics, Ralphie’s Green Stampede , the Pac-12 Conference, and advocating for college sports leadership in the Green Sports Alliance,” Zaninovich remarked. “Your contributions will echo through these halls and inspire many more leaders to come.”

George added that, “Dave is very deserving of this award from the Green Sports Alliance. His passion for sustainability and our collaboration over the years has helped make the CU Athletic Department one of the leaders in college sports.”

In attendance at the award presentation at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles was CU Deputy Athletic Director Jason Depaepe, who cited achievements that CU Athletics Department (CUAD) had seen stemming from the Ralphie's Green Stampede program.

“For nearly two decades, Dave has been an instrumental leader in helping shape the sustainability efforts of the Athletic Department,” DePaepe observed. “Dave has helped us implement programs, engage with sponsors and create meaningful change in the way we operate, while educating our fan base on how to take the practices they follow on game days into their daily lives. Dave is absolutely worthy of this recognition by the Green Sports Alliance.”

The 18-year span of Newport’s leadership at CU marked many sustainability wins by CU Athletics. Coming to CU from his post as the University of Florida’s first sustainability director working within the Gators’ athletics program, Newport partnered with CU Athletics to debut the NCAA’s first Division 1 sustainable athletics program. 

Left to right: Angie Gilbert, Dave Newport, Jamie Zaninovich and Jason Depaepe

Together with the Ralphie’s Green Stampede (RGS) team, CU Athletics went on to achieve:

• A partnership with the Environmental Center and student government to fund renewable energy and carbon offset projects sufficient to offset CU Athletics’ and student government’s carbon footprint in 2010.
• The No. 1 ranking in the 2011 Environmental Protection Agency’s Game Day Challenge.
• Construction of the new Indoor Practice Facilitythe fourth LEED Platinum Athletics facility at CU Athletics, including the CU Event Center practice facility and the Champions Center—and renovations to the existing Dal Ward Athletic Center.  
• Construction of the Indoor Practice Facility, the first net-zero energy athletics facility in the NCAA, adding 850 kilowatts of on-site solar energy generation and another LEED Platinum facility to CUAD, bringing the total to four just in Athletics.
• Three new conservation programs in 2015, each the first of its kind: a car-free Zero Waste Tailgate in partnership with Ball Corporation on Franklin Field; Wells Fargo Foundation joined RGS to kick off Water for the West, a campaign to reduce water use in Athletics and restore water inputs to the Colorado River Basin; and finally, FLOWS: Foundations for Leaders Organizing for Water and Sustainability. In partnership with Wells Fargo and Koehler, FLOWS students installed low-flow plumbing fixtures in hundreds of Boulder low-income homes to reduce Athletics water use to net zero. 
• In 2016, CU was invited to be recognized by President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House as Obama unveiled his executive order establishing Green Sports Day. Newport was the only collegiate sports sustainability leader invited to this event.
• In 2017, George hosted a nationwide Sports Sustainability Think Camp that created a Fan Engagement Playbook used to leverage CU’s sports sustainability leadership to influence fans toward more sustainable actions at home, work and play, not just on game day.
• CU won the 2017 and 2018 Pac-12 Conference Zero Waste Football Challenge Fan Engagement Award.
• Also in 2018, RGS achieved a record 91.82% stadium zero waste diversion rate in the football game against Arizona State.
• In 2019, CU scaled from the national sports sustainability leader to a global leadership status, becoming the first collegiate signature on the global UN Sports for Climate Action Framework.
• CU became the first collegiate sports stadium to introduce the infinitely recyclable Ball Aluminum Beverage Cup.
• In 2020, CUAD raised its global sustainability game by also signing on to the UN Race to Zero Campaign pledge. 
• RGS launched a sustainable transportation campaign with Google, Gears 4 Green. 
• Also in 2020, CU Athletics received the Pac-12 Conference Zero Waste Football Challenge Innovation Award.
• In 2022, CU won the Pac-12 Conference Zero Waste Football Challenge.
• In 2023, CU won the Fan Engagement Award in the Pac-12 Conference Zero Waste Basketball Challenge.

“None of these or other achievements would have occurred without the leadership, dedication and hard work of RGS leaders Angie Gilbert and Robin Poley—along with a cast of literally thousands of students, faculty and community friends,” Newport remarked. 

“The leadership and frankly the courage of Rick George stepping forward every time to open doors and commit us to global sports sustainability goals is simply unprecedented. From there, the entire Pac-12 Conference Team Green effort was born and grew up fast. The ripple effect of Rick’s leadership is not to be undervalued,” Dave concluded.

Newport is retiring from CU this summer.