by Beth Gray
This year marks the 5th anniversary of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). The effort originated from discussions at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) conference in October 2006 at Arizona State University. College and university presidents and their representatives along with representatives from groups like Second Nature and ecoAmerica identified at that time a unique role for higher education in addressing the persistent issues of climate change and disruption. Within only two months of those discussions, twelve presidents became founding signatories of the ACUPCC and a groundbreaking initiative was established.Â
The twelve institutions who served as founding signatories represent a cross section of institutions in the United States. From Arizona State University in the desert southwest, a very large public research institution to Cape Cod Community College in the northeast and Ball State University in the Midwest, these institutions have committed to advancing sustainability in higher education both through student curriculum and through their own operations. Despite their geographic and institutional differences the twelve who originally signed the commitment had a common bond: a strong commitment to take advantage of higher education’s unique role in society to make a measurable difference in the state of our environment.Â
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