By Sara Pintilie/entertainment editor
The inaugural meeting for Clinton Global Initiative University will tackle social problems from a college student’s perspective.
The meeting at Tulane University in New Orleans March 14-16 will focus on four areas—energy and climate change, global health, poverty alleviation and human rights and peace.
“Tulane University is very proud to host the first ever meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University,” Scott Cowen, Tulane University president, said in a phone interview with other media present.
The university was attracted to this project for two reasons.
The first is its emphasis on service and action to make the world a better place. And the second is the college has a great deal of respect for former president Bill Clinton, Cowen said.
CGI U is the newest branch of the Clinton Global Initiative and geared toward college students.
It was created to bring awareness and solutions to global problems.
“I created CGI in 2005 to help turn good intentions into real actions,” Clinton said on his Web site, www.clintongobalinitiative.org.
The program stresses that people make commitments on global problems, such as the rehabilitation of New Orleans or the crisis in Darfur.
The goal of the initiative is “to increase the benefits and reduce the burdens of global interdependence; to make a world of more partners and fewer enemies; and to give more people the tools they need to build a better future.”
CGI U will work with universities and students to bring awareness to issues.
“Young people have proved they are enormously committed to changing the world and they have enormous power to do so,” Clinton said in the same phone conference.
All university and college students are welcome to apply to attend the meeting or any events relating to CGI U.
The three-day event will feature panels made up of university officials and global leaders Saturday. The sessions will help students create reasonable commitments to help resolve these international issues.
On Sunday, the participants will help with community organizations in New Orleans.
“It’s important we focus on these issues,” Clinton said, “because the United States will not be whole again until we make good on our commitment to the people of New Orleans and the whole Gulf Coast area to help them completely recover from Katrina.”
The students will help rehabilitate New Orleans by repairing homes or planting gardens and trees, according to the initiative’s Web site, www.cgiu.org.
“It’s been two years since the initial catastrophe, and I have to say the rebuilding effort is abysmal,” Brad Pitt said at the CGI 2007 annual meeting. “We feel that there is a responsibility to right that wrong.”
Pitt, activist Laurie David, Lauren Bush, niece of the president, among others, will attend the inaugural conference.
Though the deadline for admission applications passed, live webcasts of the sessions will be available on www.cgiu.org.
“This is exciting to me,” Clinton said. “We all have power to change and improve the world.”
