Applications are being accepted for the Clinton Global Initiative University for students to create “Commitments to Action” that address issues on campus, in local communities or around the world. As a CGI U member university, St. Thomas is offering $25,000 to help pay for travel to the annual conference, April 1-3, 2016, at UC Berkeley, and launch student ideas when they return.
Last spring, three engineering students traveled to the University of Miami for CGI U, where they connected with like-minded students from around the world, social change experts and celebrities, to discuss and develop innovative solutions to pressing global challenges. Their commitment to action was to design a low-cost renewable energy system for a village in Africa. It was a project their student club Engineers for a Sustainable World was already working on, and they received financing to further the idea.
Since 2008, students around the globe have made more than 5,500 commitments, and nearly $2 million in funding has been awarded to these commitment-makers through CGI U. This year’s meeting will bring together more than 1,100 students with ideas that could make a difference in CGI U’s five focus areas of education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health.
The application deadline for CGI U 2016 is Dec. 1. If you have questions about CGI U or would like help with the application, contact the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship at schulzeschool@stthomas.edu.
