Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Ryan Jones Former president Bill Clinton speaks in 2004 at a rally on Benjamin Franklin Parkway to a crowd of 100,000 people. [Click to enlarge]

A central component of University President Amy Gutmann's Penn Compact is engaging globally. Now, a former U.S. President wants to help colleges to do just that.

Next month in New Orleans, Bill Clinton will launch the Clinton Global Initiative University, or CGI U, a project aimed at bringing students, faculty and global leaders together "to discuss [global] problems and take action," he announced in a conference call yesterday.

A meeting to kick off CGI U will take place March 14-16 at Tulane University and will cover a variety of issues. Climate change, poverty, health and human rights will be specifically highlighted, Clinton said.

As a long-term goal for CGI U, Clinton said he hopes universities will become more proactive in working with their students on world issues. He said he believes there has already been an "amazing effort."

"I think that every college can have a non-governmental organization to pick projects to deal with over time," Clinton said.

He also said he wants universities to "brand NGOs like they brand their sports teams" and that students should want to be involved in global-outreach programs as much as they want to be "in a fraternity or sorority."

"It ought to be a part of college life," Clinton said.

On the CGI U application - which is available at www.cgiu.com - students are asked to "reach out" specifically to New Orleans, with the former president pointing to the rebuilding of the city as a "commitment" that every American shares.

"The U.S. will not be whole again until we fulfill our commitment to New Orleans," Clinton said.

Responding to a question about which issue is most important for students to focus on, Clinton said that it varies locally, but touted the environment.

"You win the carbon-neutral fight by proving that it's good economics," he said. Clinton added that he hopes every university adopts and commits to a carbon-neutral plan. At Penn, a plan to achieve carbon neutrality has already been developed.

In the conference call, Clinton also discussed his views on free trade, saying U.S. policy should be reevaluated and future agreements should only be made "if we have labor and environmental standards in the agreements."

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