October 12, 2018
To: Members of the Campus Community
From: Darren Reisberg, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Deputy Provost, and Michele Rasmussen, Dean of Students in the University
Subject: UChicago Hosts Clinton Global Initiative University Meeting
Date: October 12, 2018
Next week, the University of Chicago will host the 11th annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) meeting. From October 19-21, UChicago will welcome more than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students from around the world, engaging them with the University campus, and a range of social innovation and entrepreneurship programs. Of the participating students, more than 150 will be from the University, 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.
Since 2007, CGI U has conducted a non-partisan meeting at a university campus, during which students engage with university representatives, topic experts, and other public figures on ideas and proposals to address societal challenges. The focus of the plenary sessions is generally on five areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health.
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 via the UChicago website.
The 2018 CGI U student participants, accepted through a competitive application process, have proposed commitments to action seeking to, among other things, reduce food waste through a pantry management system, give communities the power to pursue healthy eating, combat air pollution in India, and improve sustainable farming in Haiti.
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 neighborhood of Washington Park with a project to package 75,000 meals in partnership with Rise Against Hunger. Students will also 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.
Please reach out to cgiu2018@uchicago.edu with any questions.