By Kristine Milbrandt

Wartburg College has won a nationwide collegiate challenge to produce social and environmental change.

With 9,934 points in the Small Steps, Big Wins Campus Challenge, Wartburg tripled the points of runner-up University of Washington-Tacoma and far outdistanced the 30 other colleges, including Oklahoma State, the University of Minnesota, the University of Oregon and the University of South Carolina.

Small Steps, which ended Dec. 10, was devised by Net Impact, a global nonprofit organization with 30,000 members that emphasizes using business skills to tackle problems. Wartburg is one of two chapters in Iowa.

“While the world has a lot of problems, Small Steps believes the solution is in one action at a time,” said Jessica Grant, a sophomore from Glenrock, Wyo. “The basic premise is that students will report actions, share their progress on Facebook or another social media site and get others involved.”

Approximately 300 Wartburg students tracked and photographed their activities such as drying clothes on a rack instead of using a dryer, walking instead of driving, voting, donating used clothing and volunteering. Actions were rewarded with points depending on difficulty, complexity and level of influence.
“While these may seem like small things, if everyone did them the impact would be monumental. This is what Small Steps is about,” Grant said.

Madison Stumbo, a sophomore from Boone, got Wartburg involved after learning that Small Steps was a requirement to become a Net Impact gold-level chapter. She found connections between the competition and Wartburg’s sustainability campaign.

“I want students to realize that incorporating small things into their daily lives can add up to cause a positive impact,” said Stumbo, who directed the effort.

“We have a lot of driven individuals on this campus, and we understand the importance of trying to solve some of today’s toughest issues,” she added.

Marketing and promotions chair Brittany Groe, a sophomore from Lake Mills, was not surprised by Wartburg’s overwhelming victory.

“Students love to be involved at Wartburg,” Groe said. “Small Steps is such an easy thing that students can be involved in. Wartburg is also a very sustainable campus to begin with. Small Steps is able to help students recognize that they are already doing many of the items that Small Steps is encouraging us to do.”

All the Wartburg students involved will receive free custom-made T-shirts, but two of the participants reaped big rewards.

Alexandria Coble-Frakes, a senior from Swisher, who earned 1,616 points, the second-highest individual total, receives a free round-trip flight on Southwest Airlines to any U.S. destination.

For her leadership role, Stumbo receives an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to shadow Darrel Hammond, chief executive officer of KaBOOM! Playgrounds, a nonprofit dedicated to saving and building playgrounds.

Grant, though, cited a bigger honor.

“All of us will win because we are making a difference,” she said. “I feel that we are deserving of this honor because many students have put a lot of time and effort into the program.”

“Many times, as students, we get caught up in the rush of classes and stress that we don’t take time to realize how important it is to be a socially and environmentally aware person,” Groe said. “I believe that the students involved in the Small Steps program truly care how they impact the environment and how they present themselves as a person.”

Small Steps isn’t completely over. The second half of the competition begins in January with different incentives for students. Fifty campuses are expected to participate.