The ACUPCC

Launched in 2007, the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment is a network of more than 670 signatory schools, representing all fifty states and the District of Columbia. This high-visibility effort to address global warming garners institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth's climate. The ACUPCC is led by a Steering Committee comprised of more than 20 university and college presidents, including three co-chairs: Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University; Mary Spangler, Chancellor of Houston Community College; and David Shi, President of Furman University. The ACUPCC is staffed and housed by Second Nature, a Boston-based national nonprofit organization.

About Green Brackets

A high percentage of the schools competing in the men's and women's division I college basketball tournament are ACUPCC signatories. The goal of Green Brackets is to highlight progress on the greening of athletics programs and to generate some friendly competition among green schools. During the tournament, the focus is largely on basketball.  However, this initiative focuses on the greening of college and university athletics programs more broadly. The Second Nature team will be posting the best sports & sustainability images and stories we receive. They can be focused on the 2010 basketball tournament or on other past or current sustainability in sports efforts at their school. If a school racks up enough points from these submissions, it just might win the 2010 Green Brackets.

We highlight men's and women's schools that make the division I college basketball tournament. People affiliated with those schools (students, faculty, staff, alumni, or just plain fans) are eligible to participate in the Green Bracket Competition. At this time, we do not have the capacity to include a focus on other divisions or tournaments, but we welcome information about their efforts, and these schools are eligible to play the Green Bracket Competition.

In fact, while your school would not be eligible for certain points if it is not playing in the 2010 division I college men's or women's basketball tournaments and/or if your school is not a signatory of the ACUPCC (see play rules for more information on these points), any school of higher education is eligible to play the 2010 Green Bracket Competition.

Here's how to play.

ACUPCC Signatories in this year's Division I College Basketball Championships include:

Men's Basketball:
Clemson University
Cornell University
Duke University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Morgan State University
New Mexico State University, Dona Ana Branch
Ohio State University
Ohio University
Syracuse University
Temple University
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Berkeley
University of Florida
University of Louisville 
University of Maryland College Park
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
University of Missouri, Columbia
University of Montana, Missoula
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
University of North Texas
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
University of Vermont
University of Washington, Seattle
Utah State University
Villanova University
Wofford College
Xavier University

Women's Basketball:
Duke University
Georgia Institute of Technology
James Madison University
Mississippi State University
North Carolina State University
Ohio State University, Columbus
Portland State University
Temple University
Texas Christian University
Tulane University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Riverside
University of Connecticut
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
University of Vermont
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
Xavier University