Natural Leaders globalize ideas at Clinton conference

Editor's note: This story has been edited to remove errors made by editors. The story cited Gordon Miller in an indirect quote, but Miller was not contacted for this story. The story also incorrectly stated that Miller paid for airfare for the students. We regret the errors.

Four students behind the Ban the Bottle campaign globalized their commitment to action at the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) in Miami last weekend.

Founded by former president Bill Clinton in 2007, CGI U brings together world leaders and addresses five key issues: poverty alleviation, climate change, health-care access, human rights and access to higher education.

Junior William Piro and Natural Leaders members Spencer Black, Carey deVictoria-Michel and Carli Redfield were among the 1,300 student attendees representing 318 schools and 83 countries at the third annual conference.

Administrators from 80 universities attended. The meeting also hosted 79 leaders of national youth organizations, such as Women for Women International, One Earth Designs and Invisible Children.

"[CGI U] allows students to come together to meet influential world leaders working to solve pressing issues," said Piro, environmental studies major.

Seattle U's participation in CGI U was dependent on the commitment of the four student attendees. Gordon Miller, director of the Environmental Studies Department, became the group's contact person for funding. The four other students attended independently of official school programs.

The conference itself was a free event and provided food, but students were responsible for travel and lodging expenses.

Developing a commitment to action is the only prerequisite for attending CGI U. These commitments are to be new, specific and measurable initiatives addressing social or environmental challenges present on campuses and in communities. In their commitments, students stated their specific goals and the steps to be taken to reach those objectives.

Virginia Tech students committed to feed the poor in Haiti by constructing a facility housing 1,500 hens, producing more than 1,250 eggs per day. University of Miami students pledged to establish sustainable urban gardens in Shada, Cap-
Haïtien, Haiti.

Black, deVictoria-Michel, Piro and Redfield submitted their Ban the Bottle campaign as their committed action, a group effort of all members of Natural Leaders.

"We submitted this proposal, which was really a team effort," Piro said. "Our Ban the Bottle campaign was a campus effort, and is in a way culminated by us four going [to
the conference]."

At the conference, students participated in interactive forums and hands-on workshops.
The presence of world leaders, CEOs and NGOs amid these forums and workshops made the event both international and interactive, according to Spencer Black, junior environmental studies major.

Black attended the event last year and was inspired to involve Seattle U on a more
compelling level.

"I brought it up to the [Natural Leaders] because it really changed my perspective on leadership and initiative action on the environment," he said.

The opportunity to attend was open to all Natural Leaders members who were willing to raise funds to cover travel expenses.

"We asked, ‘Who thinks they can commit, who wants to be involved?' and it ended up being us four who were willing to commit," said Victoria-Michel, sophomore environmental studies major.

Attendees picked and chose seminars pertaining to their personal interests. The four Seattle U participants, all environmental studies majors, focused on climate change and sustainability seminars.

"Seattle U promotes sustainability so much," said Redfield, sophomore environmental studies major "I really feel like this is a unique opportunity for the four of us to obtain critical skills that will help implement acts of sustainability,"

Group members also said they were looking forward to the conference as an excellent opportunity for networking.

"I'm hoping to network with other students dedicated to solving both local and global issues," Piro said. "It will be good to get a view of other people's perspectives on the world and how we can work to change it."

Dalyce may be reached at lazarisd@seattleu.edu