UMM chancellor panelist at Clinton's GIU conference

University of Minnesota, Morris Chancellor Jacquie Johnson will serve as an energy and climate change panelist at the Clinton Global Initiative University conference Feb. 13-15 at the University of Texas, in Austin, Texas.

Former President Bill Clinton established the Clinton Global Initiative University to engage college students in global issues.

Building on the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together world leaders to take action on global challenges, Clinton launched the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world.

Each year, CGI hosts a meeting for students and university officials to discuss solutions to pressing global issues.

More than 1,000 students are expected to attend the 2009 conference. CGI U held its inaugural meeting in March 2008 at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Hundreds of students, university officials, 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.

Throughout the year, and as a prerequisite of attending the CGI U meeting, students and university officials develop their own Commitments to Action: specific plans of action 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 from nomadic doctors in Africa.

Since the inaugural meeting, nearly 1,000 commitments have been made by students around the world.

Throughout the year, students are also invited to submit their own commitments and join the CGI U campus representative network. Nearly 200 student representatives from over 25 countries are involved in CGI U initiatives.