October 13, 2015
In 2006, as President of Wesley College, I was one of a small group of college presidents who met in Washington, DC, for the first time to initiate the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Since that time, I have served on the national governing body of ACUPCC and in 2013-2014, Dr. Marylouise “Weezie" Fennell and I (with the support of ARAMARK higher education) devoted our year long series Presidential Perspectives to the important topic "Elevating Sustainability Through Academic Leadership.”
Virginia Wesleyan College joined the charter signatory
group in 2007. Since the founding,
approximately 700 schools have joined the ACUPCC. This breakthrough program is
reshaping institutions and communities while training the future political,
business, and scientific leaders who will help solve climate change.
College Presidents at the first meeting of ACUPCC in 2006.
Since 2006, Boston-based Second Nature has created and
supported catalytic commitments from senior leadership in higher education to
address pressing issues of global sustainability. Second Nature was the primary
"driver" in the launch of ACUPCC, an initiative which ushered in an
unprecedented era of change and transformative climate leadership in higher
education.
In 2014, Second Nature introduced the Alliance for
Resilient Campuses (ARC) to explore climate adaptation and resilience as a
complement to the ACUPCC. "The success of these programs demonstrates that
higher education is fertile ground to translate bold commitments into
innovation actions," said Tim Carter, President of Second Nature. "The
growth of the leadership network has created an ability to scale solutions more
rapidly, effectively, and efficiently than would otherwise be possible. Many of
our future leaders will be shaped and educated at these leading institutions.
We need to build on that success, and continue to mature and refine our
programs to be on the cutting edge of climate leadership."
To do so, ACUPCC will enter a new phase of growth. Following a strategic planning process,
extensive feedback and input from presidents and implementation staff at
signatory institutions, and guidance from Second Nature’s Board of Directors,
ACUPCC will go through a significant change that will include integrating and
rebranding the commitments to create new standards for climate leadership in
higher education.
There are now three commitments. ACUPCC will be renamed the
“ Carbon Commitment.” To advance the mission of ARC, we have formed a new
Resilience Commitment. Together, the concepts of carbon neutrality and climate
resilience constitute a new, integrated Climate Commitment. These three
commitments share common elements in their core philosophy, most notably the
ability to transcend traditional campus silos of academics, operations, student
life, community engagement, and administration for holistic social impact.
The network of signatory institutions, now called the
Climate Leadership Network, will continue to be served by a presidential
steering committee on which I serve. However, coinciding with the last week's
fall meeting of the steering committee, the new commitments and framework are
being launched.
To date, over 40 colleges and universities have committed
to the newly integrated Climate Commitment. Virginia Wesleyan and the other
current signatories will now take the time to assess and prioritize this new
opportunity. Second Nature has indicated that they will be fully supportive of
those remaining in the Carbon Commitment as well as schools not part of the
current network, who are interested only in the Resilience Commitment.
As a member of the original ACUPCC governing body, I am
grateful for all the work by Second Nature and ACUPCC over the past nine years.
I look forward to exploring the new options and their applicability to Virginia
Wesleyan College in the near future.
Tomorrow I will share the new membership of the Virginia
Wesleyan College President's Environmental Issues Council (PEIC).
