Today, the University chapter of Global Zero will launch its campaign to try to eliminate nuclear weapons worldwide.

The group will represent one of 14 colleges from across the country participating in the launch.

Caitlin Taber, president of the University chapter of Global Zero, said the main goal for the launch is to get the word out about the organization and what it stands for.

“We want to bring the idea of nuclear disarmament back into the spotlight,” Taber said. “We’re not petitioning – we’re just trying to get this generation as passionate about this issue as possible.”

Taber started the University’s chapter of Global Zero in the beginning of September, but the national chapter began in December 2008. The organization has one main goal: to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2030.

Global Zero’s detailed planning is what impressed Taber most about the organization.

“There’s a set timetable, and every year something new happens,” she said. “This isn’t a pie in the sky thing – that’s what makes it so exciting to be a part of. This might actually happen.”

Besides spreading the awareness of the organization, a major goal for the launch is getting as many people as possible to sign the Global Zero declaration, Taber said.

The Global Zero declaration states the organization’s goal to eliminate nuclear weapons. The declaration reads, “We, the undersigned, believe that to protect our children, our grandchildren and our civilization from the threat of nuclear catastrophe, we must eliminate all nuclear weapons globally.”

Students who wish to join Global Zero, or sign the declaration, can find the group in the Tate Student Center Plaza from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.

Global Zero signatory Thomas Graham will make a live address online to the University at 7:20 p.m. today. To view the address, students can go to globalzero.org/live.

According to Taber, Graham is known internationally as one of the leading figures in the fight to eliminate nuclear weapons. He served as senior U.S. diplomat during negotiations regarding arms control and non-proliferation for the past 30 years, and served 15 years as the General Counsel of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

Taber said she has been interested in nuclear weapon elimination since she began as an international affairs major at the University, but a summer internship encouraged her to turn her interests into an organization on campus.

“I interned at the Center for International Trade and Security office in Washington, D.C. this summer, that’s how I really got interested in Global Zero,” she said.

Taber was one of 20 students from universities across the country selected to have lunch with Global Zero leaders and ambassadors this summer. The goal for the meeting was that the 20 students would start their own chapters of Global Zero at their schools, and that goal was met – there are now 20 college chapters of Global Zero.

Cristina Moon, field organizer for Global Zero, works with creating and organizing chapters of the organization in universities across the country. She said that extending Global Zero to college campuses was a logical choice for the organization because it was the best way to raise youth awareness of the issue.

“Our goal is to build a grassroots movement by targeting universities and students,” she said. “Any grassroots movement begins with youth, and there is a spirit of entrepreneurship and courage in the millennial generation. I believe this generation will be the one that succeeds in nuclear disarmament.”