Junior Stephanie Dooper, who last year became the first UofL student to attend the prestigious CGIU, led the group, joined by sophomores Alicia Humphrey and Diana Lalata and three freshmen, Emma Jacobs, Kevin Lackey and Madison Harley.
Students at CGIU, held earlier this month at the University of Miami, meet to discuss plans for projects that address global needs in five areas: education; environment and climate change; peace and human rights; poverty alleviation; and public health. More than 1,000 students from around the world attend each year.
Emma, Kevin and Madison, who are all part of UofL’s Freshmen LEAD program, were attending for a project they organized in the fall of 2014 called “Swipes to Serve.” In partnership with the Franciscan Kitchen and Sodexo, the students collected meal swipes, which were then donated to the Kitchen to provide 400 meals—a typical dinnertime crowd for the Kitchen. The students even volunteered at the Kitchen and helped serve the food the night their efforts provided the meal. (A fourth member of their group, Sydney Gomes, was unable to attend CGIU.)
The Freshmen LEAD program, which focuses on leadership and service, is part of UofL’s Engage.Lead.Serve Board.
Stephanie and Alicia attended to continue work Stephanie started to build the first completely student-funded Habitat for Humanity house in Louisville. That effort is well on its way to collecting the $44,000 needed to build the house.
Diana attended for her work setting up the Collegiate Youth Rights Conference, a leadership development and diversity training conference focused on empowering Kentucky leaders to stand up for social justice issues.