July 25th, 2008 at 2:24 pm | posted by Maisie.Pigeon
Greetings, ONE members!
My name is Maisie Pigeon and I’m the new ONE Student Coordinator. Right now, I’m working non-stop to make this year’s ONE Campus Challenge a success. The ONE Campus Challenge is a nationwide competition between universities where schools have the opportunity to earn points by taking actions against poverty. (Actions range from signing up your friends and family, to “ONE-ing” your campus mascot, to writing letters to your members of Congress.)
Currently we are working to get everything ready for the OCC 2008/2009-kickoff. The competition between schools last year was pretty steep, in the end Western Kentucky University won out over more than a thousand schools nationwide. This year the competition only looks to intensify. We can’t wait to see what tricks you guys have up your sleeves!
This will be my second year working with OCC, as I was a Regional Outreach Ambassador (aka – ROA) last year. I want to let you know that we’re currently looking to fill positions for this year’s crew of Regional Outreach Ambassadors. ROAs are active student leaders who help college students across the country promote ONE and fight extreme poverty by acting as liaisons between ONE staff and ONE student leaders across the country.
Find more information on becoming a ROA and pick up an application here. And stay tuned to the ONE Blog for more updates on OCC in the coming weeks.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:27 am | posted by Virginia Simmons
Since September, more than 1,400 college campuses have been battling it out in the ONE Campus Challenge. In the end, one school was unstoppable.
Western Kentucky University beat out the competition by recruiting almost 3,000 students to ONE, writing letters and placing calls to members of Congress and effectively reaching out to the Bowling Green community to join the movement.
On Tuesday night, ONE brought the bands Army of Me and Georgie James to the campus for a free concert. Lots of local news, like the WKU Herald and local TV station WBKO covered the event.
The WKU Herald quotes ONE student organizer Matt Vaughan:
“Way to go, Hilltoppers,” Vaughan said. “3,000 people at Western are now signed up (for the ONE Campaign). That’s an accomplishment no other university could match.” Vaughan said he was happy to sit back and enjoy the concert, but there was still work to be done to end world poverty.
“The spirit of change is alive and well here at WKU,” he said. “For years to come we’re going to have to keep rocking the movement. We can do this and we will do it.”
And WBKO ran this interview with Vaughan Tuesday night.
Note his quote:
“We beat out schools like Princeton and George Washington, all these schools that are known for being globally engaged and active. We showed that you don’t have to go to a rich and elite school in the East Coast to make a difference in this world, everyone can make a difference,” said Matt Vaughan, WKU student organizer.
Congratulations WKU! We can’t wait to see what you guys do next.
February 26th, 2008 at 12:59 pm | posted by Virginia Simmons
Since September, campuses across the country have been creating ONE chapters and spurring global poverty action as part of the ONE Campus Challenge (OCC).
In just 12 hours after launching OCC, 1000 ONE Chapters were formed. Today, there are now more than 1,400 student-led ONE groups covering all 50 states.
Throughout the competition, colleges earned points for actions - like hosting speaking events, creating public displays on campus that raise awareness, contacting members of Congress and overall recruitment. All in all, these students made more than 10,000 calls to Congress, 2,000 calls to presidential candidates, provided needed support for the Jubilee Act, and successfully helped urge the IMF to honor their promise to provide debt relief to Liberia.
Finally, late last week Erin and Weldon announced the top ten point-earning schools:
Brandeis University; Campbellsville University; George Washington University; Hofstra University; Kansas State University; Princeton University; Sacred Heart University; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Western Kentucky University; and Wilmington College, Wilmington, Ohio.
Each of these schools are receiving a $1,000 grant from ONE to craft their own poverty advocacy project.
I’m looking forward to learning how they use them - and will let you know when I do.
Seven days ago, a group of 100 student activists and I met in our nation’s capital for the ONE Campus Challenge Power 100 Summit to focus on the challenge of eliminating extreme poverty within their generation’s time. In attendance were some highly influential and key Washington figures that delivered some motivational speeches that gave the student activists some incite on how truly influential the student movement is.
The group met in Washington DC on January 2nd and enjoyed an array of speakers which included public health specialists, senior fellows, CEO’s, government officials and White House aids. The list of speakers in attendance is much too long to share in its entirety but some in attendance included; former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich; former Senate Majority Leader, William Frist M.D.; Author and First Daughter, Jenna Bush.
The summit built enthusiasm for many. The purpose of ONE is not to raise money to feed poor people but to change the way the US and others do business and set policies in the world. ONE is a movement to build awareness of what it means to exist in extreme poverty and what it takes to break out of the cycle. It became clear that ONE is an advocacy not a charity. Many of the speakers made mention that the honor was more theirs not ours to attend. As many historical events have shown in the past – what government will not do – college student will take upon themselves to do.
The summit attendees took pride in sharing efforts which have already been achieved in the recent past, for example, the successful debt relief effort in Liberia. In addition, attendees look forward to upcoming efforts to push for legislative action of the Jubilee Bill and further work toward the Millennium Development Goals.
The attendees of the Power 100 Summit are participants in the ONE Campus Challenge - a student movement to eradicate extreme poverty and address global health issues.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:09 am | posted by Virginia Simmons
I’m here at the Power 100 Summit for the ONE Campus Challenge again today. This morning we heard a session on talking to the media, right now I’m at a group discussion on student organizing strategies.
We should have a ton of photos and hopefully some web video to follow next week. Hoping to get some of these phenomenal student organizers to send in some posts too;)
Power 100 attendees got their first opportunity to show their stuff with a little trivia. Weldon and Erin asked some serious questions about the number of phone calls made and the countries affected by our actions, but I am going to focus on the some of the more important questions.
First, what is the sign-off Erin and Weldon use on OCC TV?
After dozens of people stood to answer earlier questions, only one brave student dared to stand up and answer this question.
“Huzzah” Of course, that answer was not suffient, Erin demanded that they “do the whole thing.” Link to see what that means.
Second, they asked what state had the most schools represented at the Power 100 Summit?
It took eight wrong guesses (at the end I think it was more akin to deductive reasoning): Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, California, Iowa… Nope, the correct answer: Pennsylvania.
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:37 am | posted by Virginia Simmons
Yesterday, we welcomed more than 100 of the top student organizers to DC for the “Power 100 Summit.”
All participants are either a representative of one of the top 100 schools in the ONE Campus Challenge, or were selected through a competitive application process.
While Weldon Kennedy and Erin Eagan formally welcomed everyone last night, our own Josh Peck placed some posts on the ONE Campus Challenge Blog. I’m cross posting them here now.
Weldon and Erin are welcoming everyone to the challenge and giving folks an overview of the agenda. Paul Begala, Gene Sperling, Steve Radlet and Bill Frist will all be addressing the attendees. But the real purpose of the Power 100 Summit is to bring student leaders together from across the country to share their experience organizing their schools.
While the ONE Campus Challenge pits schools against ONE another Weldon reminds everyone that, while cheesy, the real purpose is to bring an end to extreme poverty — and we’re all in it together.
The summit is the first of its kind. We’re breaking new ground organizing campuses across the country in the fight against poverty — and the reason why this weekend is so important.
Monday, November 5th, marked a great historical moment for the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). At a press conference held by the ONE Club at UNLV, Provost Neil Smatresk represented our University President David Ashley, and read a proclamation declaring UNLV a “ONE Campus!” This proclamation comes at a very unique time as UNLV gets ready to host the CNN Democratic Presidential Candidate debate on November 15th.
Chancellor Jim Rogers was also in attendance as a ONE Vote ‘08 Ambassador to announce a very unique scholarship opportunity for ONE UNLV Club members. UNLV students gathered together and in full force have jumped on the ONE Campus Challenge this week. The press conference was covered by 3 local TV stations and our student paper, The Rebel Yell.
We are excited by all the ways we can earn points for our university. As our basketball team gets ready to begin the new season Rebel fans are anxious to get them in ONE gear at a game. Other future events will include hosting a ONE ROCKS! Concert November 14th to raise awareness of the ONE Campaign and recruit new members.
UNLV is off to a great start and excited about the ONE Campus Challenge. Keep watch while these Rebels with a Cause work their way up in the standings to raise awareness about ONE.
The ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, volunteers, members and coalition partners.
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