Plans for a photovoltaic solar installation in the parking lot of BSU’s American Indian Resource Center — a first for Bemidji State — are moving ahead following a pro-solar student referendum in March 2017.

The 36.3-kilowatt project is envisioned as an overhead, carport-style structure that would meet 20 to 30 percent of the AIRC’s electricity needs.

Last year’s student referendum gave impetus to the project, and students are expected to participate in designing the structure and decorating its concrete columns with American Indian motifs.

The goal is to pay for its estimated $230,000 cost through donations and grants, including the prospect for a so-called leveraged equipment grant, in which state dollars match private funds for acquisitions that will further student learning.

The structure’s location, visible from Birchmont Drive and from adjacent Chet Anderson Stadium, will provide tangible evidence of the university’s commitment to sustainability, President Faith Hensrud said.

“To have it in a place that is so visible, I think it will have significant exposure, to show what we are doing to help reduce our carbon footprint,” she said. “We can show the community, we can show our students what it is that we are doing to make a difference.”

Bill Blackwell  Jr., executive director of the AIRC, said the photovoltaic system fits the center’s cultural values and dovetails nicely with a new co-curricular academic program to integrate traditional American Indian beliefs with the modern idea of sustainability.

“I really believe that if we’re going to become a destination college for native students, like we want to be, we have to differentiate ourselves,” Blackwell said.

Hensrud said she is optimistic the project will be attractive to a variety of donors, particularly younger alums who want to invest in something with clear and rapid results.

“What we’re finding with younger people is that they want to get behind something, an actual project,” she said. “They are more interested in a cause—to see something physical, tangible that will have a benefit.”

More information

To learn more about the planned solar project and how you can support it, contact Jana Wolff at the BSU Alumni & Foundation, (218) 755-2872.