Berea College First Higher Education Institution to Bring Hydroelectric Power to Region

RAVENNA, Ky. – Berea College is the first higher education institution in the nation to complete construction of a hydroelectric generating plant, located at Lock and Dam 12 on the Kentucky River near Ravenna, Ky. The small-scale demonstration project produces on average about half of the electricity the College uses on an annual basis, further reducing the school’s carbon footprint.

“The hydroelectric generating plant shows that local green initiatives like this one can be financially feasible and create reliable sources of income and acceptable rates of return on investment,” said Berea College President Lyle Roelofs. “At the same time, it displays to our students and everyone else both the College’s commitment to environmental sustainability and the viability of state-of-the-art renewable energy technologies.”

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Berea’s Fearless Female Founders

Women were equal partners in the founding of Berea College community. Shoulder to shoulder with their husbands, Matilda Fee and Elizabeth Rogers were integral players in the challenging drama of Berea’s earliest years.

Establishing any community in an untamed wilderness that had to be cleared of dense thickets was a notable accomplishment, one that required perseverance and lots of hard work. Yet, an even greater accomplishment was establishing a community here based on the equality of all people. In Kentucky during the pre-Civil War era, mainstream society considered it radical – almost unimaginable – to acknowledge blacks and whites, and women and men, as social equals. Continue reading Berea’s Fearless Female Founders