WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Jan. 14, 2010 -- On Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 8 p.m., a panel of sports professionals and environmental advocates will participate in a discussion titled "Greening the Games: Can Sustainability and Athletics Reach the Same Goals?" The event will be held in the '62 Center on the Williams College campus.

Admission to the discussion is free but tickets are required and can be reserved by calling the '62 Center Box Office at (413) 597-2425. The event is sponsored by the Athletics Department, the Center for Environmental Studies, the President's Office, and the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives.

Professor of Geosciences David Dethier will moderate the discussion. The members of the panel are Christina Cruz, director of athletics at Southern Vermont College; Andrew Gardner, Middlebury College Nordic ski coach; Robert Nutting '84, principal owner and board chair of the Pittsburgh Pirates; and Tyler Ware '10, a member of the Williams football team. Director of Athletics Harry Sheehy will introduce the panel.

The panel will discuss athletic leadership in an environment where sustainability plays a significant role and "why and how" athletics and athletes could become "greener." Sportsmanship, a core value in athletics, will be discussed in terms of including sustainability as part of this value. The panel also will focus on the potential of sustainable practices to improve the financial bottom lines in athletics in a time of fiscal restraints.

Cruz was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic rowing team.  She worked at Williams for more than 20 years in an administrative, coaching, and research capacity. She is the author of the recently published book "Gender Games: Why Women Coaches Are Losing the Field."

Prior to coaching at Middlebury, Gardner served as the Nordic ski coach and program director at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School. He has been a trainer for the world junior biathlon team.

Nutting, president and CEO of the Ogden Newspapers, is a trustee of the Nature Conservancy/West Virginia Chapter and a former chapter president of Trout Unlimited. In 2008 the Pirates' environmental program, "Let's go bucs. Let's go green," was launched. The purpose of the program is to "integrate greening initiatives, sustainable business practices and educational outreach."

Ware '10 is majoring in political science. During Winter Study 2009, Ware prepared for and passed the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Efficiency Design) accreditation exam.

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