The OCC Year in Review

January 6th, 2009 at 5:36 pm

2008 started off strong for the ONE Campus Challenge, with our first-ever Power 100 Summit bringing together the top 100 OCC student leaders of 2007-8. At the Summit, students heard from leaders in the global anti-poverty movement including Steve Radelet and Gene Sperling, and influential members of Congress including Former Senate Majority leader Bill Frist and Democratic strategist Paul Begala. And students held their own workshops and forums, working together to hone their advocacy skills.

In April, the top 10 schools received $1,000 each towards creating anti-poverty programs on their campuses. At the end of the school year, Western Kentucky University emerged as our 2007-8 OCC champion with a dramatic day of anti-poverty events. They signed 1,745 new members, wrote 300 letters to legislators, and declared WKU a Campus of ONE and Bowling Green, Kentucky a City of ONE. All in ONE day.

The 2008-9 school year has really kept the momentum going. We’ve had 10 challenges over three months, including two “Super Challenges” each spanning two weeks. Here’s a recap of all our challenges and winners:

Challenge 1: Campus Launch
Winner: University of Michigan

Challenge 2: Scavenger Hunt
Winner: Curry College

Challenge 3: T-shirt Design
Winner: Baylor University

Challenge 4: “Stand Up and Take Action” Event
Winner: Western Kentucky University

Challenge 5: ONE Your Candidates
Winner: Western Kentucky University

Challenge 6: Halloween Photo Contest
Winner: University of Florida

Challenge 7: ONE in Your Face
Winner: University of Michigan

Challenge 8: ONE Story/Book
Winner: University of Missouri-Columbia

Challenge 9: Call Congress
Winner: University of Southern California

Challenge 10: World AIDS Day Event
Winner: George Washington University

So far during the second OCC season, we’ve amassed more than 27,000 participants representing 2,548 different schools, and the PR News Nonprofit Awards recognized OCC as one of the top advocacy campaigns in the country for 2008.

Congratulations to all OCC participants for a great year! Let’s make 2009 even better.

-Emily Stivers