The University of Chicago will host more than 1,000 students from across the country and around the world together with global leaders and policy experts for the 11th annual Clinton Global Initiative University meeting.
The event, which will take place Oct. 19-21, engages the next generation of leaders and social entrepreneurs to help them make a positive impact in communities worldwide. Students will gather to discuss and develop ideas and proposals to address some of the most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges. Of the participating students, more than 150 will be from UChicago, including students from the UChicago Laboratory Schools and the UChicago Charter School.
Featured speakers include President Bill Clinton, founder and chair of the Clinton Foundation; Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation; and former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Additional speakers include Muzoon Almellehan, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador; Amy Carter, deputy director, Family Interest Grants, Community & Civic Engagement, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Julio Martinez Ellsberg, member, International Relations Commission; Susan Herman, president, American Civil Liberties Union; Uzodinma Iweala, CEO, Africa Center; Mai Khoi, independent artist and activist; Jens Ludwig, director, University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, McCormick Foundation Professor; Lt. Col. Joe Plenzler, retired Marine Corps combat veteran and co-founder of #VetsForGunReform.
The full and most up-to-date meeting agenda can be found here. Attendance is limited to participating students; the plenary sessions will be broadcast live on Oct. 19 and 20 via the UChicago News website.
The CGI U student participants, accepted through a competitive application process, have proposed commitments to action that addresses specific problems in one of five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, poverty alleviation, peace and human rights, and public health.
Commitments by UChicago students include reducing food waste through a pantry management system, giving communities the power to pursue healthy eating, combating air pollution in India and improving sustainable farming in Haiti. Read more about the projects here.
After two days of plenary sessions, skill-building workshops and special programs, all designed to help the students further develop their commitments, the meeting concludes with a Day of Action, in which students participate in a service project proposed by a local community partner which builds capacity for the organization’s ongoing work. The Day of Action will kick-off at XS Tennis and Education Foundation in the Washington Park neighborhood with a project to package 75,000 meals in partnership with Rise Against Hunger. Students also will participate at various other Washington Park locations including the UChicago Arts + Public Life - Arts Incubator, Burke Elementary School, Chicago Youth Programs, Coppin Community Center, DuSable Museum of African American History, Dyett High School, KLEO Community Family Life Center and Sweet Water Foundation.
The Office of the Provost, with leadership from Campus and Student Life and the Office of University Events and Ceremonies, partnered with Chicago Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, the Institute of Politics, the Harris School of Public Policy, the School of Social Service Administration, and the Office of Civic Engagement to plan this year’s CGI U meeting.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
