ONE Campus
Mike Phelan, Vice President for ONE’s Union University chapter, warming up for the big game. Photo courtesy of Sarah White.
The men’s soccer team at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee brought the spirit of ONE onto their playing field last week when they donned ONE shirts during a crucial warm-up session for the quarterfinal game in the TranSouth Conference Tournament. Despite the near-freezing temperatures, the always-professional players managed to not only get their heads in the game, but help raise awareness for the world’s poorest people.
This was a successful first event for Union’s newly formed ONE Campus chapter, which launched this fall. ONE chapter members were on hand in hats and gloves distributing ONE bands and signing up students, all while cheering on their team from the sidelines. The group received a high turnout despite the weather, generating excitement and interest from their fellow fans, all while engaging fellow students about the importance of being advocates for those living on less than $1.25 a day.
Union’s ONE chapter head, Sarah White, was inspired by the energy and interest in this summer’s World Cup in South Africa and felt that partnering with the men’s soccer team would be a good opportunity to help raise ONE’s profile on campus. And with the team attracting players from all over the world -– Bosnia, Serbia, Brazil, Croatia, Scotland, Honduras and Guatemala, to name a few -– White felt the team presented a perfect opportunity to showcase the power of coming together as a team and a campus to advocate on behalf of the world’s poorest.
Visit Union’s new ONE chapter blog and stayed tuned as they begin to establish themselves on campus this year. Congrats Union, can’t wait to see what else you’ve got in store!
Our ONE Campus groups were out in full force last week in the name of Halloween festive fun, helping to make our unique flier campaign a huge success. With fliers plastering campuses from Michigan to California, students from 14 schools helped to get the word out on ONE’s issues in the lead-up to the spookiest weekend of the year.
In addition to having a frighteningly fun Halloween, participating ONE Campus groups shared facts about malaria and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, with many also holding events (think of bed nets as cobwebs, people) to help get their fellow college students get into the festive spirit. But just because trick-or-treating and Halloween are over, it doesn’t mean we’ve reached the end of our poverty-fighting efforts. ONE Campus Season 4 is officially in full swing, so stay tuned for other fun and unique campaigns that our college students are working on and how you can get involved on your campus and community this year.
ONE Campus is back and better than ever! An effort that has traditionally rallied students around the ONE Campus Challenge, this year’s ONE Campus program will focus on integrating our campus outreach into ONE’s national advocacy and campaign goals. This means more collaboration across universities and more opportunities for students to acquire the hands-on advocacy experience that they crave!
The program kicked off in September with a live video-conference and call to action with Barbara Bush, and we’ve taken off ever since. With a month under our belts, we have more than 100 student leaders across the country bringing the fight against poverty onto their campuses. This month, students are rallying around a number of advocacy actions, including ONE Vote 2010 platform drop-offs, “The Lazarus Effect” screenings and an educational flier campaign around Halloween.
Don’t worry, the contest we all know and love will be back better than ever and is scheduled to launch in early 2011. Until then, get in the game! There’s still plenty of time to host a Lazarus Effect Screening at your campus.
Are you interested in leading the fight against poverty on your campus? We want you! Go to http://www.one.org/campus/ and become a campus leader or join an existing chapter. At this very moment, there are students on your college campus hungry to make a big difference for the world’s poorest people. We need your help to channel that energy and ensure legislative and policy victories for improved government, greater economic development and smarter aid in the developing world.
Questions? Contact ONE Campus Coordinator Mike Fazzino or College and Young Adult Field Manager Erin Finucane .
Join the fight to make poverty history today!
Every year, ONE hosts representatives from the top 100 Campus Challenge schools in Washington, DC for an exciting 3-day student conference known as the Power 100 Summit.
The 2010 Power 100 Summit will be January 29 – February 1. Students will hear from some amazing speakers sharing their expertise on global poverty and advocacy, including Susan Smith Ellis of (RED); Robert Draper of National Geographic; Will Herberich of the Millennium Campus Network; Scott Hahn, co-founder of the clothing brand Edun; author and activist Pam Cope; and David Lane, our CEO here at ONE. Students will also work with ONE staff to become better advocates in the global anti-poverty movement, and will apply what they’ve learned during a day of visits with legislators on Capitol Hill.
This year’s Power 100 schools have really earned their spots. They have taken more than 50,000 education, awareness-raising and advocacy actions, recruited more than 10,000 new members, and collected more than 20,000 used books for the Liberian Literacy Foundation in just 20 days.
Without further ado, the top 100 schools invited to send representatives to the 2010 Power 100 Summit are:
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Last night the University of Colorado Student Union passed a proclamation declaring the campus to be a Campus of ONE. The unanimous decision reflects the University’s commitment to being a leader on social justice issues and standing up against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. What’s even more significant is that the committee is determined to be more than a quiet statement of faith, but to make it public with a signing event and active promotion of ONE on campus throughout the next school year.
The sponsor of the bill, Dan Omasta, described the bill as unique because in this election cycle we are constantly hearing about all the things we can’t agree on, it’s nice to talk about what we do share as common values. The passage of this proclamation makes the University of Colorado one of the largest school to become a Campus of ONE.
I’m very proud of my University and look forward to the work we have to do over the summer and next year.
-Matthew McAllister, Colorado ONE member and CU Sophomore
Since October, colleges and universities around the U.S. have been competing in the ONE Campus Challenge – a friendly competition to see which campus has the best poverty advocates around.
After months of open competition, an amazing summit in Washington, DC, and some adorable pets put into ONE gear, the Top 10 schools received stipends to create their own poverty advocacy projects.
The projects are all done, and I’m proud to show you the results and ask for your input on pick in the winner.
Voting runs until midnight Pacific Time Friday!
We’ll let you know who won next week.
Compassion has flooded the hallways of Libertyville High School in Illinois. I and my fellow students are taking action for the fight against disease and poverty and today, on March 19, our school will become the first official “ONE High School” at the same time Libertyville becomes an official “ONE City.”
Next month, we’re organizing a massive community benefit concert that will take place on April 18, 2008 at the high school’s field house. Just like the roots of the ONE Campaign, this started as just a few students’ idea and has grown into a movement.
What inspires me the most is how quick more students are to join. Our group continues to grow and we’ve already signed up more than 580 new members in just two days of tabling. Between our school and town, the Libertyville community is truly taking on to the idea that we all can come together as ONE community to change the world.
-Ryan Steel, ONE member and LHS senior, Libertyville, IL
