FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Susie P. Gonzalez

susie.gonzalez@trinity.edu

May 26, 2009

Former President Bill Clinton Urges Americans to be Global Volunteers during Presentation at Trinity University

Since leaving office as the nation’s 42^nd president, Bill Clinton proudly states that he has gotten into the “how” business. During a speech in early May at Trinity University, he posed these questions:

·      How can America help wipe out malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, and other chronic and potentially deadly illnesses in Third World countries?

·      How can the health care system deliver services without going broke?

·      How can more people be convinced to work toward solving domestic and global problems by ramping up their volunteer efforts?

Through the Clinton Global Initiative, these topics and more are being tackled, he said. “In politics, there are two questions: What are you going to do and how much are you going to spend to do it?” he said. “I’m in the ‘how’ business.” Simply put, he said the “how” business requires people to describe what they want to do and then try to turn good intentions into real change.

“I’m actually optimistic about the future. We can answer the ‘how’ question on all these things,” he said, noting that private citizens historically have tried to bridge the gaps in the social fabric. Benjamin Franklin, for example, organized a fire department before signing the Declaration of Independence, Mr. Clinton said.

He brought his message of hope and pitch for increased volunteerism to San Antonio during a presentation at Laurie Auditorium. His talk was sponsored by U.S. Global Investors and the World Affairs Council of San Antonio and was not part of a Trinity lecture series.

Mr. Clinton told college students in the audience that they will spend the next 20 years in the “how” business. The next generation of leaders will have to find ways to solve three chronic problems of the world – inequality, instability, and an environment that is not adequately sustained, Mr. Clinton said.

The Clinton Global Initiative will soon celebrate its fifth anniversary, and Mr. Clinton said the organization has caught fire. “Everybody will do something if they think they’ll make a difference.” He said he the foundation’s work has helped 200 million people in 150 countries, and more people want to help every year. “The idea of empowering other people has caught on. Anybody can commit to $100 or 20 volunteer hours, make that commitment, and keep it.” The key, he said, is keeping the commitment.

He invited college students to participate in the university arm of the Clinton Global Initiative by attending conferences and pledge to help local communities. Similar events were held recently in New Orleans and Austin.

Trinity student Shelley Ramsey, a sociology major from Memphis, received a grant for $2,500 last year from the Clinton Global Initiative to implement a campus program to teach English to Trinity employees and contract workers whose first language is not English. Ms. Ramsey and about a dozen other student tutors worked with employees who speak Spanish and one whose native language was Russian.

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