Release date: Oct. 11, 2007

Emory Dims Lights to Promote Energy Conservation, Welcome Dalai Lama

Contact: David Payne at 404-727-0996 or dpayne2@emory.edu

Key buildings at Emory University will go dark for one-half hour on Friday, October 19 (between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., EDT) to promote awareness of energy conservation prior to the arrival on campus of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama.

Modeled on a similar lights out event in Sydney, Australia last spring, the voluntary lights out event, organized through Emory’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives, supports Emory’s overall goal to reduce energy consumption by 25 percent by 2015 from its 2005 levels.

“In order to meet these goals, we first need to raise awareness of our individual and collective energy use,” said Ciannat Howett, Emory’s Director of Sustainability Initiatives. “Simple steps to reduce energy consumption do matter. By turning out lights on campus for even a short period of time, we hope students, faculty, staff and campus neighbors will recognize their energy impact, and how it can easily be reduced.”

In addition to turning lights out on campus, Emory alumni worldwide are encouraged to turn their lights out simultaneously during the half-hour period.

“The lights-out event, which will occur the evening before His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrives on campus, serves as both an expression of thanks for his visit, as well as a collective act of mindfulness that our behavior yields implications for the environment,” said Ciannat Howett. “As His Holiness has indicated in the past, there are a lot of unnecessary, man-made problems on this planet, but we have no other home, and need to take seriously our obligation to care for the Earth.”

Interior office and residence hall lights, buildings that can easily be darkened after hours, and lights in the area of Emory’s Quadrangle will be the central focus of the lights out event.

As part of its commitment to positive social change, Emory has identified sustainability as one of its priorities. The Office of Sustainability Initiatives promotes a healthy, safe and environmentally sustainable campus that enhances individual health, community well being, positive educational experiences and environmental stewardship. To learn more, visit www.emory.edu/sustainability.

The Dalai Lama will visit Emory Oct. 20-22, 2007, to deliver his inaugural lecture as Emory’s Presidential Distinguished Professor, the first university appointment accepted by the 1989 Nobel Peace Laureate and leader of the Tibetan exile community. At Emory, the Dalai Lama also will participate in a conference on science and spirituality, and an interfaith session on religion as a source of conflict and a resource for peace building. The Dalai Lama will give a public talk, “Educating the Heart and Mind,” at an Emory-sponsored event in Centennial Olympic Park Oct. 22. (For information go to www.dalailama.emory.edu)

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is one of the nation’s leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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