At 1 p.m. today in Gaston Hall, students stood up and enthusiastically greeted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a roar of applause. Dean of the School of Foreign Service Carol Lancaster introduced her to the stage. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard more noise in this place than right now,” she said.

Clinton was visibly pleased by the positive reception from students, saying, “I am a Hoya by marriage.”

Today’s talk revolved around the heavily debated issue of energy diplomacy in the 21st century. Clinton spent the majority of the lecture discussing America’s leading role in the implementation of programs to increase the focus and importance of energy in diplomatic conversations.

“It’s been a top concern of mine,” Clinton said. “America’s objectives for energy security is critical, and the steps that we are taking to try to achieve those objectives are ones I want to briefly outline.”

She added that the very “real threat of climate change” is an ever present concern for policy makers, and the United States has a vested interest in “helping the 1.3 billion people worldwide who don’t have access to energy.”

Of the several initiatives Clinton described, she announced the creation of a new bureau within the State Department devoted to discovering new and creative ways to deal with energy issues. Heading the bureau is Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Carlos Pascual, who was in the audience at Gaston Hall.

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President Barack Obama will be speaking tomorrow at Georgetown University to outline his plan for America’s energy security.

Obama will be speaking in McDonough Arena at 11:15 a.m. According to a broadcast email from the University, first-come, first-served tickets may be picked up tonight beginning at 6 p.m. in the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame in the Leavey Center.

Obama’s last speech at Georgetown caused great controversy–not for what he said, but because the IHS symbol in Gaston Hall was covered up during the speech.