Students attend Clinton Global Initiative University, March 6-8
Eight Lamar University students have been chosen to be part of a select group of college students to participate at the 2015 Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U). More than 1,000 innovative student leaders will gather March 6-8 to seek new solutions to world challenges. The eighth annual CGI U meeting will take place at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., and will include hands-on workshops and seminars facilitated by former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, as well as other notable speakers.
Participating students will join innovators, thought-leaders, and civically-engaged celebrities to make a difference in CGI U’s five areas of focus: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health. Since the first CGI U meeting, attendees have made 4,800 Commitments to Action: new, specific, and measurable plans to address challenges on campus, in local communities or around the world. This growing community of young leaders represents more than 875 schools, 145 countries and all 50 states.
Lamar students chosen to attend are: Kristeen Reynolds, accounting; Joshua Barnes, mechanical engineering; Dougal MacGregor and Charles Bray, communications; Joshua Wilson, computer science; Macy Fletcher and Kirstie Thibodeaux, social work, and Mohammad Nurul Azam, electrical engineering.
Reynolds and Barnes were also selected to attend CGI U in 2014 for their work, titled “Carrying the World on our Backs.” That project focused on developing mobile origami-style shelters to help alleviate the homeless population in third-world countries and serve as first response tools in regions struck by natural disasters.
“We are very proud of our students who have been selected to be a part of this unique and committed organization,” said LU president Kenneth Evans. “This is an exciting opportunity for our students and their faculty mentors who have been involved in the various research projects that seek solutions for local, national and global problems.”
This year, through the CGI University Network, the Resolution Project Social Venture Challenge, and other opportunities, more than $900,000 in funding opportunities will be available for select CGI U 2015 students to help them turn their ideas into action.
The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), a program of the Clinton Global Initiative, brings together college students to address global challenges with practical, innovative solutions. CGI U participants do more than simply discuss problems – they take concrete steps to solve them by creating action plans, building relationships, participating in hands-on workshops, and following up with CGI U as they complete their projects. Established in 2005 by former President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), a component of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world's most pressing challenges.
For more information about CGI U, visit www.cgiu.org.
