BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – To prepare millions of students to become leaders in the largest civilizational challenge any generation has faced, an unprecedented educational initiative is about to take place. On Wednesday Jan. 30, and Thursday, Jan. 31, thousands of institutions, mostly colleges and universities, will participate in teach-ins focused on global warming.
Called Focus the Nation: Global Warming Solutions for America, these teach-ins are designed to engage millions of students and citizens on the issue of climate change, as well as draw the attention of decision makers and political leaders in advance of the November presidential elections. Focus the Nation has organized a model centered on three pillars for today’s youth, aimed to embrace solutions to global warming: education, civic engagement and leadership. Teams of students come from individual colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools, places of worship, civic organizations and businesses.
Leslie Morrison, a senior environmental studies major and co-president of the Sierra Student Coalition, a student organization dedicated to environmental sustainability on Illinois Wesleyan’s campus, expresses the importance of understanding global warming, “College students have a responsibility to understand this issue and solutions to this issue because we are the future, and the future looks complicated. It is important for everyone to understand the implications of global climate change and what they can personally do to be a part of the solution,” said Morrison.
On IWU’s campus, the GREENetwork, the Sierra Student Coalition, the Office of Resident Life, and the Environmental Studies Program are involved with the preparation of events. Kicking off the Focus the Nation events, on Tuesday Jan. 29 at 8 p.m., the film An Inconvenient Truth will be shown in the Hansen Student Center (300 Beecher St., Bloomington). On Wednesday Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. a Webcast, 2% Solution will be shown in the Hansen Student Center. The central event is a teach-in that will take place throughout the day on Thursday Jan. 31 and will have five different panels organized around specific themes regarding global warming. Examples of the panels are: “Where Are We and How Did We Get Here,” “What is at Stake With Climate Change,” “What is Our Carbon Footprint,” and “The Moral/Ethical Implications of Climate Change.” Illinois Wesleyan faculty members along with selected staff and students who have diverse experience in these areas will speak and lead panel discussions.