Former President Bill Clinton has invited Wagner College President Richard Guarasci to speak at the second Clinton Global Initiative University, to be held at the University of Texas at Austin from Feb. 13 through Feb. 15. President Guarasci will speak to a gathering of more than 1,000 students during a session entitled “Human Development as Urban Development in City Slums.”
The Clinton Global Initiative University program, launched in 2007, is a function of the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together world leaders to take action on global challenges. Each year, President Clinton hosts the CGI University meeting for students and university officials to discuss solutions to pressing global issues.
The inaugural CGI University meeting was held last March at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hundreds of students, administrators and global activists came together from nearly every state and 15 countries to address issues including climate change, global health, peace and human rights, and poverty alleviation. To give back to New Orleans, attendees participated in a service project with Brad Pitt's “Make it Right project” in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward, preparing sites for the construction of new homes in a neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
CGI University is more than just an event. It is a growing community of young leaders who take real, concrete steps toward meeting the world's challenges. Throughout the year, as a prerequisite for attending CGI University, students and university officials develop their own “Commitments to Action,” which are specific plans that address a pressing challenge on their campuses, in their communities, or in different parts of the world.
Commitments range from installing energy-efficient light bulbs to establishing campus bike share programs, from distributing life-saving water filtration kits to designing medical backpacks for nomadic doctors in Africa. Since the inaugural meeting, nearly 1,000 commitments have been made by students around the world.
For more information about the Clinton Global Initiative University program, visit the CGI Web site at clintonglobalinitiative.org.
Pres. Clinton invites Pres. Guarasci to speak
January 27, 2009
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