Colleges Add Green Academic Programs

Colleges and Universities are picking up on the increased interest in environmental sustainability and adding more sustainability to their academic programs.

Northwestern Dance Marathon Raises Close to $1 Million

Dance Marathon, the annual all-night dance party fundraiser wrapped up this week at Northwestern University. Northwestern set the fundraising bar high last year with a record-breaking $933,855, and again reached high for this year’s 30-hour event.

Students Seek More Specific Schooling Over Jobs

With the recession in full swing, more students are choosing graduate school over entering the work force. Schools are seeing more applications to specific graduate school programs, as well as professional and technical schools.

Relay on life support

Every year over 4,600 Relay for Life all night team walkathons are held to raise money for the American Cancer Society, many on college campuses. However, in light of the weak economy, students at Florida A&M University are starting to worry they won't meet their financial goals for this year’s events.

Madoff made “Ponzi” of Higher Ed Institutions

Bernard Madoff’s multi-billion dollar pyramid scheme reached deep into the pockets of Wall Street, Hollywood and apparently even Campus Ave.

California Work Rush

The Public Policy Institute of California reports a shortage of college grads to supply the state’s workforce.

Microsoft Mogul Moves to Open Windows and Doors For Academic Access

Multi-billionaire couple Bill and Melinda Gates unveiled yet another huge push for education improvement with the help of their substantial resources. They plan to put their money into four distinct areas, with this latest charitable endeavor focusing on helping students to graduate high school and easily access and complete community college.

Relay for Life Gets Rolling

The annual up-all-night walkathon to fund cancer research, Relay for Life, has kicked off at colleges across the country.

Seniors Face a Smaller Job Market

As seniors prepare to graduate many are concerned with facing a smaller job market in the midst of the current financial crisis.

Business Students Take Steps to Unite China and U.S.

A sophomore at Miami University has recently started his own business organization: the China-America Business Organization (CABO).

From Mate to Microfinance

Two Pepperdine students recently traveled to Argentina where they spent time living in impoverished communities. Realizing how hard it was for lower-income families to secure loans and maintain businesses, the students decided to begin selling Mate, the national drink of Argentina, in the U.S. to raise money to create micro-loans for underprivileged Argentineans.

Groceries Go Online

Three students at the University of Florida are starting a company called Gator Grocers, an online grocery store that will deliver to students.

Iowa State students organize Political Action Week

Students at Iowa State University have organized their second annual Political Action Week – a week devoted to speeches, debates and opportunities to take action on campus. It being caucus season in Iowa, at least two presidential candidates are scheduled to appear.

Books for Africa

A group of students from the Community Service Center and the Golden Key Chapter at Boston University have joined together with other organizations to collect donated books, resell them, and donate the money to send books to impoverished African areas.

Weaving the Threads of Hope

A student at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is working with the nonprofit organization Threads of Hope, selling bracelets made by a family in the Philippines and sending the money to the family.

Greeks Give Green

Fraternities and sororities across the country were busy all week with philanthropic events.

Rock to Change the World

A group of students at the University of Wisconsin Madison organized a concert and fundraiser that will feature music as well as a lecture by an HIV/AIDS activist.

Student to Participate in Journey of Hope

A student at the University of Delaware will spend his summer pedaling on the Journey of Hope, a cross-country bicycle trip that raises funds and awareness for people with disabilities.

Volunteerism Gets By With a Little Help from Its Friends

A group of students at Brigham Young University were inspired to form Giving Back: Students in Philanthropy after listening to a presentation by the United Way. Two students at the University of Minnesota started a group that helps students raise the funds to travel abroad to volunteer.

Trinity Students Win $10,000 Award

Three freshmen at Trinity College won a Davis Projects for Peace Award for their "Community Approach to Solar Lighting" project.

Philanthropy and Entrepreneurship Alive and Well

Stories from Northwestern, the University of Washington, and Duke demonstrated that student philanthropy and entrepreneurship is alive and well.

SafeRides at JMU Back

James Madison University's SafeRides program is finally back in action after four years of legal struggles over insurance. SafeRides is a nonprofit student-run organization that provides rides to students on Friday and Saturday nights.

Students Broker Fair Trade Deal

Students from Smith, Hampshire, UMass, and South Dakota State University helped broker a fair-trade deal between a U.S. organic coffee buyer and Oro Verde, a Peruvian coffee-growing cooperative.

Students Encourage Others to FACE AIDS

Student members of Arizona State University's chapter of FACE AIDS are raising money to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa by selling beaded pins handmade by Africans afflicted with the disease.

Aid for Africa, From African Students

Students hailing from Africa are engaged in philanthropic efforts to help people in their home nations.

International Funds

The International Club of Bates College turned their annual dinner into a fundraiser this year, raising money for two charities started and run by other Bates College students.

Exclusively Yours

Dormswap, a student-developed online database where students can exchange belongings they no long want, is forbidden to promote itself on campus because of an exclusivity agreement between Trinity and Barnes & Noble.

Students to Sell Inexpensive Stoves in India

Students at the University of Oregon presented plans to sell inexpensive stoves in India and other developing countries at the annual Engineers in Technical Opportunities of Service (ETHOS) Conference.

Council Crackdown at Harvard

An Undergraduate Council effort to provide students with cheaper textbooks suffered a setback this week, when Harvard Coop officials asked the council’s representatives to leave off collecting textbook ISBNs for their website Crimson Reading.

Drinking Water for Africa

Six graduate students at Arizona State University have created a machine that takes water from the air and purifies it to make fresh drinking water.

Bringing Millennium Goals to You

F.O.O.T.S.T.E.P.S began as five Emory students planning a benefit for Hurricane Katrina victims; today they’re a 20-person incorporated non-profit with a $4–5 million plan to promote the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals to college students.

Dumpster 101

We were a little unsure whether to file this as social justice, community service, environmentalism, or what. Based on that confusion, we’ve decided that Food Not Bomb’s dumpster-diving-to-feed-the-needy venture is certainly philanthropic & entrepreneurial, albeit in somewhat reconceived terms.

recycleHere

Sarah Kubik, a Wayne State student, has started a citywide recycling program for Detroit called “recycleHere.”

A Constant Garden

Emma Clippinger, a sophomore at Brown, and Emily Morell, a sophomore at Yale, have started a project that will at once promote self-sufficiency and decrease malnutrition in Rwanda’s HIV-positive women.

Get that Paper—for Peace (Part 2)

In case you missed last week’s issue, a quick re-cap: Kathryn Wasserman Davis, bless her heart, is giving away one million dollars—in $10,000 parcels—to the 100 best student-conceived, student-enacted projects to promote peace. (Sorry for the excessive alliteration.)

Fair’s in Fashion

Students in Northampton, MA have a new fair-trade clothing store thanks to Constanza Ontaneda, a Cornell sophomore studying fiber science and apparel design.

Search Kindly

Lake Forest senior Syed Karim is responsible for what may be the coolest search engine EVER. (Well, in the long and glorious history of search engines, anyway).