In January of 2014, movie stars Anil Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra visited the University of South Florida and participated in a tree-planting ceremony hosted by the Patel College of Global Sustainability. The event drew hundreds of Bollywood film fans. Chopra is one of India's most well-known and highest-paid actresses, and Kapoor, a veteran of Hindi films is best known outside India as the game show host in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and for his role in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Both were in Tampa to promote the International Indian Film Academy's (IIFA) Awards Celebration held at Raymond James Stadium. The IIFA is often described as the Academy Awards for Bollywood cinema.
“It’s our world, our earth, and we must look after it,” Chopra said to the audience.
The two actors planted two trees in front of the Patel Center for Global Solutions to highlight a commitment by both the Indian Film Industry and USF to environmental sustainability. “It’s our world, our earth, and we must look after it,” Chopra said to the audience. USF is dedicated to sustainability both on campus and around the world. The university community recognizes the importance of meeting the needs of our metropolitan location while minimizing our environmental impact. USF educates students, staff, and the community in environmental stewardship and sustainability. This stewardship includes building green facilities, improving our energy efficiency, water conservation, green cleaning, planting native species, recycling, and funding renewable energy projects.
USF’s work toward achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was first recognized in the Times Higher Education’s 2021 Impact Rankings, placing the university third nationally and 30th internationally. The World University’s Impact Rankings quantifiably measured the efforts of over 1,000 universities from 94 countries and regions to achieve any of the UN’s 17 SDGs, which are initiatives that act as a blueprint to create a “better and more sustainable future for all.” Institutional sustainability is a “core commitment” contained in the USF Strategic Plan for 2022-27.