This lunch Plenary Session was a breath of young energy and faces as three student leaders took the stage to discuss issues related to the work they are doing on their own campus and to broadly discuss student activism (or as argued by one, student "citizenship" )

Presenters: Carlos Rymer, Cornell University
Joanna Calabrese, University of Maryland
Matt Harmin, University of Kentucky

Carlos discussed what students at Cornell are doing to work towards sustainable development on campus. He outlined the strategy that students there have taken, focusing on three general areas: natural resources, energy and social justice. Carlos discussed how the student groups there focus on different areas while working together. Cornell committed to the Kyoto Protocol for its campus and by 2009 they seek to have CO2 emissions 30% below 1990 levels. The group he worked with Kyoto Now! worked for the passage of this policy. The Cornell Amnesty International group also works on campus on some of the social aspects related to sustainability (equitable and living wages, fair trade etc).

Cornell is also a signatory to the Presidents Climate Commitment and the online student petition that they used in convincing President Skorton  to sign is very effective and now included as a resource on the PCC site along with the campaign plan they created.

Carlos finished his talk with reminding the audience that in his experience campus sustainability work on campus can be both rewarding and fun.

Joanna discussed the work she has done at the University of Maryland (UMD). She illustrated the ability students have to make significant positive change on campus. The students at UMD have united to work on sustainability and partner with the newly created office of sustainability. President Mote is also a signatory to the Presidents Climate Commitment.Joanna explained that currently students here spend $409 dollars a year on average in electricity produced from coal burning power plants. The reliance on coal gave impetus to a student referendum that would increase student fees to purchase renewable energy (over 90% of voting students voted 'yes') Joanna also described the work students have done working with local and federal legislators to help support clean energy policies and the amazing success of Powershift (held on campus) that engaged over 6,000 young people in the movement towards a clean energy future and economy.

Matt approached the podium and immediately gripped the attention of the crowd expressing his enthusiasm and fun he has been having at SSCC. He began by discussing what the status of sustainability at the University of Kentucky currently is and examples of some projects. There is a newly appointed Presidential committee for sustainability, a free wildcat wheels bicycle library, an active residence life recycling program, a sustainable agriculture undergraduate degree program and UK is a pilot campus for the AASHE STARS project. However, there is not a master plan that includes sustainability, or a way to track performance and sustainability indicators currently.

Matt used the story of Robinson Forest as an example of a contradiction in what he has learned in his course work in the classroom and what he as a student and citizen can do to support sustainability in his immediate community and region.  Matt made many points that channeling student power in an effective way has the potential to make great change on campus and in the community.

The student panel made the audience crack up laughing many times and many people felt it was one of the best sessions of the whole conference. I would agree and as one attendee said, "This is what I came to the conference for" .