The University, along with higher education in general, was called out this morning at the ‘Sustainable U’ presentation at the University for not promoting and incorporating sustainable practices and values into all areas of higher education. The concern over of the lack of sustainable efforts in higher education was issued this morning by the senior fellow at Second Nature and one time Provost at Ithaca College Peter Bardaglio during his speech, ‘Boldly Sustainable: Hope and Opportunity for Higher Education in the Age of Climate Change.’ This is also the title of the new book he co-authored with Andrea Putman, which will be in stores April 5, 2009. Moments into his speech Bardaglio acknowledged the fact that the University has not yet signed the President’s Climate Commitment. Six hundred and two higher education institutions have signed this commitment to pledge their dedication to reducing their institutions green house gases, according to the President’s Climate Commitment Web site. University President Carol Cartwright would have been the person to confront on this subject, but she was unable to attend the presentation and give her welcoming comments due to illness, University Provost Mark Gromko said.’ Although the President’s Climate Commitment has not been signed by the University, Gromko acknowledged other sustainable and environmentally friendly programs the University is encouraging. Such programs include the orange bike exchange to encourage less automobile traffic, energy and recycle wars in the dining and residence halls along with green tailgating initiatives. While these projects are taking a step towards sustainability, Bardaglio called for more attention on the critical thinking aspect of sustainability. ‘Sustainability is critical thinking,’ he said. ‘It asks you to balance dynamic interactions between economic, social and environmental health.’ To have a successful dynamic interaction between these three areas, the status quo of focusing on economic efficiency needs to be left in the past to look towards a future of successful sustainability in higher education, Bardaglio said. A successful sustainable future for higher education means demonstrating day-to-day sustainable practices in the classroom, viewing power as resource of other means than just control, viewing society’s relationship with the planet as mutually beneficial and using effective leadership and critical thinking skills to teach students and colleagues how to better use resources, Bardaglio said. ‘A commitment to sustainability means a more holistic and purpose driven education system,’ he said. ‘We have to be able to use our education to solve these very real problems, such as climate change.’ ‘Sustainable U’ was an all day presentation, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., held at the Union to discuss environmental sustainability in Northwest Ohio colleges and universities. The event was sponsored by five of the University’s colleges, including the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Technology, along with local vendors like Starbucks and Green by Design.