More than 160 AASCU presidents, provosts, faculty, staff, and students joined AASCU President Mildred García, former Secretary of State John Kerry, and former Ohio Governor John Kasich on September 9 for a conversation about the World War Zero initiative, climate change, and the importance of civic engagement.

Kerry, Kasich, and others launched the World War Zero coalition in 2019. Its goal is to drive 10 million climate conversations in 2020 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The work focuses on how people in the U.S. and around the globe need to join together across party affiliation and ideology to combat climate change and ensure a healthy world for generations to come.

During the webinar, Kerry and Kasich spoke with candor about the polarization people in the U.S. are facing, how the nation has arrived at this point, and what we all can do to speak to our “better angels.” They also discussed how the work of combating climate change draws on campuses’ historic roles as innovators and how AASCU institutions can prepare a future workforce that will lead America toward a clean energy economy and create millions of new jobs.

Attendees asked about a range of topics, including the speakers’ opinions on nuclear energy and how to effect larger-scale cultural change. Kerry and Kasich stressed the importance of voting, especially student voter turnout, as an urgent call to action for the upcoming election and the need to build from ground up and hold leaders accountable.

García closed the program by highlighting the role of AASCU institutions as Stewards of Place and partners in this work to create a more equitable and sustainable future. 

Watch a recording of the webinar.

_{Former Secretary of State John Kerry (left) and former Governor John Kasich (right) discussed the World War Zero initiative during the AASCU webinar “Not Politics as Usual: a Conversation With Former Secretary of State John Kerry and Former Governor John Kasich.”}