President Clinton visits San Diego for Global Initiative Program at UCSD

President Clinton and many other local, national and global leaders will visit San Diego as part of the Fourth Annual Clinton Global Initiative University Meeting. The event will take place at UC San Diego April 1-3.

President Bill Clinton founded the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) to empower undergraduate and graduate students to create tangible solutions to pressing global challenges. Not only do CGI U members discuss the problems facing our world, but they create action plans to affect real, positive change.

Previous CGI U meetings have taken place at Tulane University, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Miami. UC San Diego will host the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative University, an event to include very high profile presenters. Participants include actor and humanitarian Sean Penn, Population Services International Ambassador Mandy Moore, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, Restaurateur Lorena Garcia, Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padrón and UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox.

More than 1,000 students are expected to attend this Global Initiative program which will target many issues including college affordability, LGBT Rights and urbanization. As part of the weekend, students and veterans will be joining forces for a community service project at the San Diego Food Bank.

In a press release, President Clinton remarked about the success of the Clinton Global Initiative University. “Since 2008, CGI U has brought together more than 2,500 students from 575 schools in 99 countries, all of them dedicated to addressing the great global challenges of our time,” President Clinton said. “Their work has improved the lives of thousands of people around the world. I am looking forward to convening the next generation of global leaders once again, so they can learn from each other and gain practical skills that will help them turn their ideas into real change.”

The origin of the event stems from the tremendous success of the Clinton Global Initiative. As CGI University, the event brings together students and non-profit leaders, entrepreneurs and celebrities engaged in efforts to create positive change. As a participant, students are asked to make a commitment to improving lives within one of the event’s focus areas: education, environment & climate change, peace & human rights, poverty alleviation and public health.

Since 2008, the program has made more than $1.3 million in infrastructure improvements to schools and libraries in countries including the U.S., Rwanda, Nigeria and Laos. It has reached more than 74,000 students, faculty and staff with educational efforts and outreach about clean energy and sustainability. Programs have included placing more than 3,800 new recycling containers on college campuses and in surrounding communities, establishing and maintaining more than 90,000 square feet of community gardens and introducing more than 3,000 bicycles on college campuses in the U.S., Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon and China.

Not only is San Diego going to host this event,  San Diego students will be taking part in the initiative to improve the community and make our city, nation and the world a better place.

“Through the Clinton Global Initiative University, students and universities have made more than 3,000 commitments over the last three years,” President Clinton said. “Commitments made in 2010 alone will improve the lives of more than 290,000 people, and I am looking forward to joining attendees at the University of California, San Diego in April to see the progress being made.”

As the host site, UC San Diego yet again makes national news for its positive impact on the community. UCSD, which is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, has been recognized widely for its local impact, national influence and global reach. In 2009, Washington Monthly named UC San Diego number one in its rankings, which measure “what colleges are doing for the country.” The school has also been named one of the top ten public universities by U.S. News & World Report.

Interested in learning more about San Diego’s Clinton Global Initiative program? The full agenda can be found at http://www.cgiu.org/meetings/2011/agenda.asp.

Cannot attend yourself? The Entertainer will recap the introductory address delivered by President Clinton and his constituents or you can watch the live webcast at www.cgiu.org. On Twitter, follow CGI U (@cgiu) or the Clinton Global Initiative (@ClintonGlobal). They are also on Facebook at Facebook.com/CGIUniversity.

Photos from CGIUniversity Facebook and 2010 CGI U Photos