Though he was originally slated to be the keynote speaker, former Massachusetts governor and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will not be attending the Millennium Campus Conference at Columbia this fall.
According to Chuck Roberts, CC ’12 and executive director of the conference, Romney told the group via a video message last week that he would be unable to attend.
The Millennium Campus Conference, which was originally a consortium of Boston-area schools, draws students and advocates for discussions and workshops on sustainable development.
It was previously held at MIT, but it is Columbia’s turn to host this year. Roberts said there was heavy collaboration between University students and students from Boston schools.
In inviting Romney to speak, Roberts had said organizers were looking for an alternative voice as a contrast to more liberal-leaning speakers.
The conference has confirmed the Columbia Earth Institute’s Jeffrey Sachs and others, including the co-founder of Invisible Children and the founder of Engineers Without Borders, for keynote addresses.
Roberts said there are a couple of “huge names” that may turn up to speak at the conference, but organizers won’t know for sure until closer to the event.
The conference will run Sept. 17-19.
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