Dillard University News November 2015 Dillard Delegation Attending United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (NEW ORLEANS, LA) - Six delegates from Dillard University are among the 40,000 conferees and 140 global leaders attending the United Nations Framework Climate Change Conference of the Parties 21st convening (COP21) in Paris, France from November 30 - December 13, 2015. Dillard conference participants include students Alexis Walker, public health senior from St. Louis, Missouri; Sophomores Faith Flugence, a political science major from Lafayette, Louisiana and Tiara Gray, a biology major from Dallas, Texas. Leading the delegation is Dr. Beverly Wright with staff participants Dr. Ebony Turner, Mary Williams, and Celeste Cooper. Participation in the COP21 is made possible through a project developed by the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Climate Change Initiative in an effort to bring diversity to the environmental justice arena. The trip has been five years in the making as a project of the Dillard University Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) in partnership with the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University in Houston. Students, many of whom are from disadvantaged communities, are encouraged to be theoretically and experientially versed in the impact that climate change could have on the communities where they live, work, and study. "It is imperative that our students are educated in the field of climate science as well as the politics of climate," said Dr. Beverly Wright, director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) in New Orleans. "The HBCU Climate Change Initiative is committed to growing the voices of HBCUs on climate justice so that our communities' best interests are included within the development of global climate policy," she added. About the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Climate Change Initiative The Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Climate Change Initiative was founded in 2011 by Drs. Beverly Wright and Robert Bullard, dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University in Houston. The initiative was conceived to help raise awareness about the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable and marginalized communities and to develop HBCU students as leaders and advocates on issues related to environmental and climate justice policies, community resilience, adaptation and other major climate change topics (i.e. transportation fuels, energy sources, carbon emissions, green jobs/green economy, just transition, and community economic development). The Initiative sponsors activities that provide opportunities for HBCU students to learn about climate change science, policy and advocacy and to present their research projects on topics relative to climate change issues. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Like us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance/ 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.