By CORY RECTENWALD
News Co-editor
[email protected]

Author and environmental activist Bill McKibben is scheduled to visit campus February 16 to speak for the Year of Sustainable Communities.

For the 10 days prior, the Sustainability Coordinating Committee has events planned in the campus center aimed at displaying Allegheny’s various efforts and awards related to its environmental stewardship.

ASG’s Director of Sustainability Ian Colley, ‘13, is a chief organizer of the events leading up to McKibben’s visit.

“What makes [McKibben] especially good is that he is a professor, so he works with college students,” said Colley. “He’s the sort of presenter that gets people excited and involved, so he’s a very effective speaker for our age group.”

McKibben’s talk comes only a few months after the Nov. 6 Keystone XL pipeline protest around the White House that drew more than 10,000 participants and McKibben, himself, organized.

Vice President of SEA and EcoRep Nathan Malachowski, ‘14, was one of 27 Allegheny students that participated in the D.C. protest. He’s looking forward to meeting the man behind it.

“At the protest, we didn’t really get to learn about him or what he’s done; there was a lot of rallying and chanting about the Keystone pipeline problem, but not about his philosophy or what he’s done,” said Malachowski. “It’s exciting to be able to see a different perspective of him and understand what’s behind that organizing force for what was such a moving experience in D.C.”