Talking with college presidents about the climate crisis
What might colleges and universities do about the unfolding climate crisis?
Several months ago* I had the opportunity to join a meeting of campus presidents. Nearly all were from the United States, fairly dispersed geographically. Institutions ranged in size, but tended to the small and medium. I also met with other people in this setting: some deans and provosts, plus a range of vendors pitching themselves to presidents.
I was invited to lead a discussion about climate change and higher ed. Our session was moderately attended, neither ignored nor crowded, and did compete with a clutch of competitors. I kicked things off by speaking quickly to the main themes of Universities on Fire: multiple levels of academic engagement and impact; the grand strategy big picture; potential political drivers for institutional action; the problem’s urgency. I compared change to great historical crises which academia participated in, such as WWII and the Great Depression. I also pitched the idea of campuses expanding climate operations to attract students.
Next, Colorado College’s president described a whole series of things they had done: targeting, then achieving net zero emissions, including through renovating many buildings; creating a campus Office of Sustainability; some carefully chosen carbon offsets for…
