By Sherry F. Pruitt

JONESBORO -- On Friday, the day before Earth Day, a number of Arkansas State University officials signed the Talloires Declaration, an initiative to make ASU part of a worldwide network of higher education institutions dedicated to "greening" the campus, said Dr. Aldemaro Romero, chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences.

"Good management" and "good citizenship" will play a role in ASU's participation, he said.

ASU President Dr. Les Wyatt said he is pleased to be a part of a university that takes the environment's sustainability seriously.

"There's no greater environmentalist," than the American farmer, added board of trustee vice chairman Mike Gibson of Osceola, who also serves as a trustee of the Judd Hill Foundation, which owns and operates a 4,000-acre cotton plantation.

By signing the declaration, Arkansas State, according to the declaration, agrees to:

- increase awareness of environmentally sustainable development;

- create an institutional culture of sustainability;

- educate for environmentally responsible citizenship;

- foster an environmental literacy for all;

- practice institutional ecology;

- involve all stakeholders;

- collaborate for interdisciplinary approaches;

- enhance capacity of primary and secondary schools;

- broaden service and outreach nationally and internationally; and

- maintain the movement.

In addition to Gibson, Wyatt and Romero, other campus leaders who signed the document include: Dr. Robyn Hannigan, environmental sciences program director; Dr. William Humphrey, Faculty Senate president; Victor Hill, president of the Staff Senate; Tiffany Frazier, Student Government Association president; Jennifer Bouldin, Environmental Science Alumni representative; Al Stoverink, assistant vice chancellor for Facilities Management; and Aaron Archer, Graduate Program student representative.

The Talloires Declaration, drafted in 1990 at an international conference in Talloires, France, is a 10-point action plan for incorporating sustainability and environmental literacy in teaching, research, operations and outreach at colleges and universities, according to a news release.

It has been signed by more than 300 university presidents and chancellors in more than 40 countries and is the first official statement made by university administrators toward a commitment to environmental sustainability in higher education.

Romero said ASU's participation will be great for the university.

"It will change the way we do business," he said.

sherry@jonesborosun.com