Unity College President Named Co-Chair of ACUPCC Steering Committee

November 1, 2010
Contact: Ulrike Klein, 617-722-0036 ext. 206, uklein@secondnature.org

American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment Announces 2010-2011 Steering Committee Members
New Members from Twenty-Two States Represent Diversity of American Higher Education Institutions

BOSTON, MA – The American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) has confirmed the election of five new co-chairs and seventeen new members to its Steering Committee during the 2010 ACUPCC Climate Leadership Summit in Denver on October 13.

Launched in early 2007, the ACUPCC is a network of 675 colleges and universities in all fifty states and the District of Columbia – representing nearly six million students, about one third of the US higher education student population. The program is led by a Steering Committee comprised of twenty-nine university and college presidents and is staffed and supported by Second Nature, a Boston-based national nonprofit organization.

“The level of engagement and diversity of the ACUPCC Steering Committee members continues to increase,” according to Anthony Cortese, President of Second Nature and Coordinator of the ACUPCC. “There was tremendous interest in serving on the Committee this year among the ACUPCC presidents – it’s just one more indicator of how this initiative and the sustainability movement are generating excitement on campuses and throughout the higher education sector in unprecedented ways.”

The five new co-chairs, who will serve two-year terms are:

Judith Ramaley, President of Winona State University (MN);
Mary Spangler, Chancellor of Houston Community College District (TX);
Beverly Tatum, President of Spelman College (GA);
Mitchell Thomashow, President of Unity College (ME); and
Tim White, Chancellor of University of California – Riverside (CA).

The new Steering Committee members are:

Michael Burke, President of Milwaukee Area Technical College (WI)
Rebecca Chopp, President of Swarthmore College (PA)
William Destler, President of the Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
John M. Dunn, President of Western Michigan University (MI)
G. David Gearheart, Chancellor of the University of Arkansas (AR)
Jonathan Gibralter, President of Frostburg State College (MD)
Jean Goodnow, President of Delta College (MI)
John D. Haeger, President of Northern Arizona University (AZ)
Rose Harrell Johnson, President of Haywood Community College (TX)
Scott Miller, President of Bethany College (WV)
Harris Pastides, President of the University of South Carolina – Columbia (SC)
John J. Sbrega, President of Bristol Community College (MA)
David J. Schmidly, President of the University of New Mexico (NM)
Greg Smith, President of Central Community College (NE)
Richard Torgerson, President of Luther College (IA)
Wim Wiewel, President of Portland State University (OR)

Members of the 2009-2010 Steering Committee who will continue to serve are:

C. Edward Balog, President of Aquinas College (MI)
Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University (AZ)
S. Verna Fowler, President of the College of Menominee Nation (WI)
David Hales, President of College of the Atlantic (ME)
Rosalind Reichard, President of Emory & Henry College (VA)
Herlinda M. Glasscock, President of North Lake College (TX)
Thomas Purce, President of The Evergreen State College (WA)
Jacqueline Johnson, Chancellor of the University of Minnesota, Morris (MN)
With all kinds of institution types – large and small; public and private; two-year and four-year; research, liberal arts, and technical; historically black colleges, tribal colleges, and Hispanic-serving institutions – from twenty-two states, the ACUPCC Steering Committee embodies a broad representation of the higher education sector in the US.

The ACUPCC is the first effort by any major sector of society to set climate neutrality – not just a percent reduction in emissions – as its target. With inertia at the federal and international levels on climate change policy, the ACUPCC network highlights the leadership of the sector as a whole, and now serves as a role model for regional, national, and international initiatives.

While contributing to the collective action of the ACUPCC, each institution retains the autonomy to chart its own course and set its own pace towards achieving climate neutrality and educating for sustainability. More than 320 institution-specific climate action plans have been submitted to date and are available for public viewing at www.acupcc.org/reportingsystem.

“The hundreds of ACUPCC institutions employing a wide variety of solutions to move our society towards climate neutrality and sustainability are absolutely critical to rebuilding our economy and helping meet the basic needs of people everywhere, today and in the future,” said Cortese. “We at Second Nature look forward to continuing to support the ACUPCC network under the governance of the new Steering Committee.”

About the ACUPCC: The ACUPCC is a high-visibility effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to eliminate net greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth’s climate.
Learn more at: www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org.

About Second Nature: Second Nature works to accelerate movement toward a sustainable future by serving and supporting senior college and university leaders in making healthy, just, and sustainable living the foundation of all learning and practice in higher education. Second Nature is the lead supporting organization of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, a growing network of over 630 signatory higher education institutions in all fifty states that have made a public commitment to neutralize their greenhouse gas emissions and transform their curricula to educate all students to contribute to solving the climate crisis.