Campus Highlight: Students Educating and Empowering for Diversity at Johns Hopkins University

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

For the last Campus Highlight of the 2011-2012 academic year, I'm aiming the spotlight on Students Educating and Empowering for Diversity (SEED) at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD).

This admirable organization "is a group of carefully selected and dedicated students who are trained by professional staff to raise campus awareness of racism, sexism and other types of bigotry or intolerance." They facilitate everything from workshops to action plans in both a proactive and reactive approach to diversity awareness on campus. Awesome! Keep up the great work, SEED!

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Campus Highlight: Kansas University Men's Basketball Team

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

Even though I blogged about this topic a few weeks ago, I only did so generally -- and without mentioning Kansas University (Lawrence, KS).

For the third year in a row, the KU men's basketball team has reached the Final Four in the InsideHigherEd.com Academic Performance Tournament. (And, in fact, they won the entire thing this year and in 2010!) While the fun of the play-offs is increasing as the number of remaining teams dwindles, it's great to know that the KU team has maintained better-than-average academic standards for its men's basketball team. Way to go, guys!

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Campus Highlight: Students on Target at Louisiana State University

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

For this week's Campus Highlight, I'm focusing on Students on Target (SOT) at Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA), "a Student Government programming committee that is charged with the mission of promoting healthy lifestyle choices, such as eating right, exercising regularly, and acting responsibly." And while many campuses have student-run organizations that promote wellness, SOT does so by using "the medium of music and art to spread this message." How fun does that sound?!

On March 26, SOT hosted its "Groovin' on the Grounds" event. During the day, Groovin' featured "multiple booths with food and activities as well as large air inflatable slides and games." At night, everyone made way for the musical part of the event, which this year included Ludacris, Hunter Hayes, FreeSol, and Hazy Ray. The best part? The entire event was alcohol free -- and free to both the campus and the public.

It's always great to hear about fun spring events, like Groovin' on the Grounds, at any campus. But I thought SOT deserved a shout-out for having such a kickin' event that was free for those in attendance -- and free from alcohol. Keep up the great work!

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Campus Highlight: Student Crafters at Berea College

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

Berea College (Berea, KY) -- which provides all enrolled students with a 4-year tuition scholarship -- helps fund such scholarships through Berea College Crafts. Each student worker "delves into Appalachian artistic heritage, learns about materials and design, experiences the joy of creativity, and identifies the dignity of work well done" before creating wood crafts, furniture, ceramics, woven items, and/or brooms.

Lots of students on scholarship have to work during their time in college. But the students involved with Berea College Crafts are learning about the past, providing for the future, and earning money in the process. What a great combination. Congrats to all of those involved on their hard work -- and amazing products!

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Campus Highlight: Wabash College Mentors for Kids

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

Wabash College (located in Crawfordsville, IN) has the unique distinction of being one of a very-limited number of all-male liberal arts colleges. They define their mission as "excellence in teaching and learning within a community built on close and caring relationships among students, faculty, and staff." Part of that excellence apparently comes from how Wabash "challenges its students to appreciate the changing nature of the global society and prepares them for the responsibilities of leadership and service in it."

What better what to prepare one's self for leadership and service than to start in your own backyard? The Wabash College Mentors for Kids chapter was recognized in 2011 as the Chapter of the Year. The campus chapter was founded in 2006 and now mentors dozens of children in the surrounding community.

College Mentors for Kids is actually a larger organization that pairs college mentors with kids in grades 1-8. Chapters like the one at Wabash are clearly making a difference in the lives of today's young folks, and that always warrants a Campus Highlight in my book. Keep up the great work!

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Campus Highlight: The Social Entrepreneurs of Grinnell

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

The Campus Highlight this week is a cool one, if I do say so myself; I'm highlighting the Social Entrepreneurs of Grinnell (SEG) at Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA). SEG is "a microfinance organization made up of students and community members from the town of Grinnell, Iowa" that "implements microloans in communities around the world and provides microfinancing services to the local Grinnell community."

In addition to being a fantastic organization, SEG also received some prestigious accolades: They were recognized by the White House as one of the five winners in the "Campus Champions of Change Challenge." Additionally, several members of SEG traveled to the White House on March 15 for an official event and the organization itself will be featured in an upcoming segment of mtvU.

Is the recognition SEG is receiving amazing? You better believe it. But so is the work they're doing. Way to go!

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Campus Highlight: Student Staff at the Knox College Student Newspaper

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

This week's Campus Highlight beams down on The Knox Student, the student newspaper at Knox College (Galesburg, IL). The paper recently won "18 awards, the most in its division, in the annual Illinois College Press Association contest" according to a press release on the Knox website.

Although the paper was founded in 1878, it's great to see that students, over 130 years later, are continuing a tradition of excellent in leadership and journalism. Congrats to everyone on the staff for the great work (and recognition for it)!

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Campus Highlight: The University of Idaho International Friendship Association

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

This week's highlight is focusing on the International Friendship Association at the University of Idaho. Their upcoming program -- "Cruise the World" -- sounds fantastic. The annual program "gives campus and community members the opportunity to experience different cultures by trying on exotic clothing, writing in new scripts, playing games, learning traditional dances, and much more while visiting over 30 country booths." Additionally, live entertainment rotates every 30 minutes, with performances including "traditional folk dances from Ghana, Guatemala, Nepal, India and Mexico, as well as music from Japan, and Saudi Arabia." What a great way to give people a chance to expand their horizons in an active, interactive way.

Keep up the great work, IFA! Wish I could come to this event!

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Campus Highlight: Vermont Student Environmental Program at the University of Vermont

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

For this week's Campus Highlight, I'm featuring the Vermont Student Environmental Program (VSTEP) at the University of Vermont. Founded in 1988 and currently operating as a non-profit, private foundation run by students, VSTEP "is an organization of concerned individuals dedicated to coordinating environmental activities on Vermont campuses and throughout the general public." One of their more notable accomplishments has been to end the sale of bottled water on campus, which will go into effect in January of 2013. The university issued a press release that describes in more detail the way(s) VSTEP helped to implement such an important policy change.

As the press release notes, although VSTEP was able to reduce the amount of bottled water that was purchased on the campus, in 2010 alone approximately 235,000 bottles were sold. Congratulations to the students of VSTEP for their efforts in making such a drastic reduction in the amount of waste coming from one campus -- and for showing the rest of the country what solid student leadership looks like!

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Campus Highlight: Malcolm Burnley at Brown University

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

Although I usually highlight a student group or organization, this week I'm choosing to highlight one particular student: Malcolm Burnley at Brown University. His major accomplishment? He recently uncovered a long-forgotten speech by Malcolm X in his university archives. How's that for coming up with something new and exciting while doing research?!

As I've long complained about on this blog, college students often get a bad deal in the mass media. But Mr. Burnley's discovery has been picked up by several major media outlets, including MSNBC and The Huffington Post. Congrats, Mr. Burnley, not only on your discovery but for showing the amazing things college students do!

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Campus Highlight: University of Hawai'i at Manoa

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

For this week's Campus Highlight, I'm featuring the University of Hawai'i at Manoa for their "The Genteel Sabai" performance. The show features Randai, "a folk dance-drama form of entertainment originating in West Sumatra and performed by the Minangkabau ethnic group of that region" that "is rarely seen outside of Indonesia." In fact, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa is "the only university program in the West to offer Randai performances." Awesome!

You don't have to be at the UHM campus to learn more. You can find out about Randai folk dance from their web page or do a little research yourself. Either way, I wanted to send some props to everyone involved in the performance for bringing something new, educational, and downright interesting to their campus. Keep up the great work!

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Campus Highlight: Florida A & M Students

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country. Now that classes are back in session for many college students, the Campus Highlight feature will resume for the spring semester.)

Florida A&M has been in the news lately because of the suspected hazing death of one of its band members. And while I'm glad that the university is immediately investigating and working to halt an unacceptable culture where hazing existed, I also want to acknowledge the students on campus who are working at Florida A&M to create positive change.

As noted in a January 4 press release, over 100 Florida A&M students went to New Orleans over the winter break to help families who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. For three days, they participated in community service work (such as helping to rebuild and repair buildings) and "gave away hundreds of toys that were donated by FAMU's student body." Way to go, guys! It's great to see the fantastic work that college students do that often goes unappreciated, especially when other, more unfortunate incidents are hitting the headlines.

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Campus Highlight: University of Delaware Promoters of Wellness

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

With so many college students feeling the angst and stress of finals, I wanted to highlight a student group that focuses on something else: health and wellness. The Promoters of Wellness (Pow!) is a group of "peer educators from the Wellspring Health Education office at the University of Delaware. The mission of Pow! is to offer fellow students (1) information promoting wellness and (2) supportive resources for making informed health decisions. Pow! members carry out this mission with educational programs, individual peer consultations, and other services described in more detail on the Services page."

Pow! offers a range of programs for "you and a group of your friends, for your floor, or for your hall, class, or club," including a "Let's Talk About Sex" program this past November and a "Glow in the Dark Paint Party" on December 2. Students can request programs on topics like holistic wellness, substance awareness, healthy sexuality, stress management, massage, fitness and nutrition, disordered eating, positive body imagery, and quitting tobacco, among others. It's great to see a student group providing such an important resource for its campus community -- and planning important and fun events to boot! Keep up the great work, Pow!

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Campus Highlight: University of Connecticut LOVE146

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

As the holiday season approaches and we are all bombarded with advertising and images about buying gifts, it was refreshing to learn about the LOVE146 student organization at the University of Connecticut. Amidst the chaos and commercialism of this time of year, UConn LOVE146 is hosting a "Krispy Kreme fundraiser in order to raise money to prevent child sex trafficking." On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week, you can purchase a Krispy Kreme donut (helloooo, stress eating!) in the UConn Student Union while helping to support UConn LOVE146.

I wanted to feature this organization in this week's Campus Highlight because it is a great example of the kinds of good work that college students do each day, every day. A simple fundraiser in the student union to support an important social justice issue? It seems so common for many students, and yet these acts of kindness and generosity are what make college students so amazing -- and, really, are what the holiday season is all about. Best of luck this week, UConn LOVE146! Keep up the great work!

(More information on the larger LOVE146 organization can be found on their website.)

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Campus Highlight: The Colorado College Community Kitchen

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

I'm excited about this week's Campus Highlight because it focuses on an exciting organization. The Colorado College Community Kitchen (Colorado Springs, CO) claims to be "the only soup kitchen in the United States that actually operates on a college campus." Each Sunday, the Kitchen provides hot meals to community members in need and was started "by a student interest in serving the poor and hungry of Colorado Springs."

Community service work? Awesome. Community service work originating from student initiative? Even better. A community kitchen that operates on and utilizes a college campus -- and has been doing so for 16 years? Fantastic! Keep up the good (and I mean good) work, Tigers!

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Campus Highlight: University of San Francisco Thanksgiving Food Drive

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

I need to issue a disclaimer for this week's Campus Highlight: I used to work at the University of San Francisco and participated in their Thanksgiving Food Drive when I was there. That being said, while my experience at USF might have made me a little biased, it also provided me with a great insight into what a great event their Thanksgiving Food Drive is.

The drive aims to collect money from faculty, staff, students, and alumni to help provide "enough funds to buy food baskets for 130 families in the Western Addition neighborhood, near USF." (Storing food donations can get logistically complicated.) During a time when everyone on campus is busy preparing for the holiday themselves, the Thanksgiving Food Drive is a great way to give back to a neighboring community and a great reminder that, as stressed as you may be about, say, your paper, there's always time to give back to those who are less fortunate. The program does a great job, too, of bringing the entire community together for one cause; when I was a staff member there and volunteered, I drove my car while several students hopped out to deliver Thanksgiving dinners to several families on our delivery list. Talk about a community working together in all kinds of ways!

Keep up the great work, USF! You're doing a great job, with programs like these, to help change the world.

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Campus Highlight: MSU and UNC's Men's Basketball Teams

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

Given the tragic story that emerged from Penn. State last week, I wanted to use this week's Campus Highlight to focus on the positive and admirable aspects that college athletics has to offer. In honor of Veterans Day, the Michigan State University and University of North Carolina men's basketball teams played each other in a unique setting on November 11: on board the USS Carl Vinson in California.

The game highlighted some of the best aspects of college athletics: Teamwork. Sportsmanship. Pride. Leadership. Community connections. Even showmanship. As riots broke out at Penn. State, the hardworking men and women of the USS Carl Vinson prepared their ship for a major event. And the student athletes of MSU and UNC got ready to put on a great game. Thanks!

A very special thank you and acknowledgment, then, to the MSU and UNC men's basketball players. Even though the national spotlight was somewhere else, you played a great game and showed how awesome students can be in the amazing things they do every day.

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Campus Highlight: Ohio University's Students Teaching About Racism in Society

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="? 2011 Students Teaching About Racism in Society (STARS), Ohio University."][/caption]

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

Given that today is Halloween, I wanted to use this week's Campus Highlight to draw attention to a student organization that I mentioned in a blog last week and that has been receiving quite a bit of media coverage for their "We're a culture, not a costume" campaign.

Students Teaching Against Racism in Society (STARS) at Ohio University (Athens, OH) recently created a poster campaign that addresses the tradition of dressing up in a cultural "costume" for Halloween. As the posters so directly point out, for many people, these kinds of costumes "[are] not who I am and [are] not okay." All too often, these kinds of "costumes" reflect ignorance and stereotypes of the cultures and people behind them. You can see a few of the posters in my profile of STARS.

The campaign has received massive media attention, including the international media and even CNN. So congrats are definitely in order for an organization that not only created an effective awareness and education campaign, but also helped further discussion and dialogue about the very thing they are trying to combat in society. Well done, STARS!

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Campus Highlight: University of Alaska Fairbanks

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

October 24 is Food Day, which "seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life--parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes--to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way." The movement is sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest; Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Representative Rosa DeLauro, D-C.T., are also the Honorary Co-Chairs for Food Day 2011.

In support of Food Day, the University of Alaska Fairbanks is hosting quite a celebration! Events include lectures, exhibits, an "Iron Chef" cookoff, a Food Jeopardy game, and a Taste of Alaska booth featuring all Alaska-grown food. Best of all, everything is free and open to the public. Congrats to everyone -- especially the students -- for being involved in such a timely, interesting, and fun-sounding event!

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Campus Highlight: The University of Arizona Solar Cats

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

For today's Campus Highlight, I'm focusing on the University of Arizona's Solar Cats. Founded in 2008, the group "(exists) to bring environmentally conscious students of the University together in an effort to implement a means of harnessing solar energy as a power source for our residence hall, Posada San Pedro, in partnership with the faculty and staff of the University." Fortunately, however, they are not limiting their environmental activism to their residence hall; they also hope that "(by) unifying students and staff through an understanding of the critical importance of leading our University into the sustainable era, combining all of our voices as one, we hope to achieve solar energy for our hall and ultimately for our University as a whole in future years."

Way to go, Solar Cats, for using so many great resources (academic training, faculty and staff allies, student creativity and initiative) toward such a noteworthy cause. Keep up the great work!

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