Video

Matt Gentry | the Roanoke Times

A group of students and residents march across the Virginia Tech Drillfield on Thursday. The march was part of an organized national day of events calling attention to global warming. See the video

BLACKSBURG -- The crowd Thursday evening on the Virginia Tech Drillfield was small but spirited. What else would you expect from a group gathered outside to talk about global warming on a windy, 35-degree day?

"We're here tonight because we care, right?" shouted Tech junior Jackie Pontious, her voice jumping from loudspeakers set up next to the reviewing stand and bouncing off the surrounding buildings. "We care about the environment, we care about humanity, we care about the future."

The group of about 30, many dressed in green, cheered.

The "Green Effect" rally was just one of several events organized by Pontious and Bryce Carter, coordinators for Focus the Nation at Tech on Wednesday and Thursday, sponsored by Tech's Environmental Coalition. Similar events were held on more than 1,500 campus around the country to call attention to global warming.

Earlier in the day, various campus groups set up tables on the Drillfield advertising different solutions to the problem -- political science majors, engineering students and a group trying to re-energize the campus recycling program vied for the attention of passing students.

Despite the low turnout for the "Green Effect," Environmental Coalition President Natalya Hallanan was happy with how things went. She pointed out that the effort reached a lot of people throughout the day Thursday, through the groups gathered on the Drillfield, lectures on environmental issues and a forum.

One person the Environmental Coalition is hoping to reach with its message is Tech President Charles Steger. Hallanan told the crowd about the organization's efforts in December to get him to add his name to the Presidents Climate Commitment. The document has been signed by nearly 500 university presidents, 14 of them in Virginia. It calls on universities to provide leadership in the fight against global warming in what they teach and what they do.

Hallanan pointed out that Tech has made strides in the past year toward becoming more environmentally friendly. But the group had hoped Steger would announce the signing of the Presidents Climate Commitment on or before Focus the Nation. He hasn't, but its members remain hopeful.

"President Steger can put Virginia Tech on the map as a leader toward sustainability," she told the crowd. "Please encourage President Steger to invent the right future."

Tech professor Scott Geller took the reviewing stand after the students had generated a couple of "let's go, Hokies" chants and Pontious had admonished the scattered "Drillfield people" who weren't attending the rally to stand with the group because, "it's your future, too."

Geller commended the students who were there and recalled that he was part of Tech's first Earth Day in 1970. He spoke about simple changes of behavior that could turn back global warming, such as bringing a canvas bag to the grocery store instead of using plastic bags. But, he said, real change will take everyone's commitment. It's not enough to just care, he explained. People have to take action.

"The time has come, with our backs against the wall, folks," he said, looking around the Drillfield. "Where's everybody else?"

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