A proposal from upset-minded Wartburg College is pitted against goliath New York University in the Clinton Global Initiative University’s “March Madness” Sweet Sixteen bracket.
Wartburg supporters will try to advance a student project to provide renewable energy in an African refugee camp as the college goes against NYU (enrollment 40,000) in an online contest that runs through Thursday, March 28, at http://www.cgiu.org/bracket/.
The Clinton Global Initiative University Challenge, a competition of ideas, was launched by former President Bill Clinton leading up to his sixth annual CGIU conference in St. Louis, April 5-7, with 1,000 students representing more than 300 universities and 75 countries. The gathering will focus on education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation and public health.
Wartburg’s entry is “Renewable Energy for Development and Sustainability” from third-year students Daniel Sopdie, Cameroon; Aseya Kakar, the United Kingdom; and Linda Nkosi, Swaziland. Dr. Tim Ewest, director of Wartburg’s social entrepreneurship minor, is their adviser.
The students would build a biogas digester that converts animal and plant waste into gas for a refugee camp in Mpaka, Swaziland. By creating an alternative gas for cooking, heating and lighting, they hope to improve the standard of living, increase the capacity of the youth to learn and enable the Mpaka community to be more sustainable through reduced deforestation.
NYU students would establish an all-natural beverage company in Colombia to generate income for farmers.
If victorious, Wartburg would face the winner of the University of Oklahoma-University of California San Diego contest.
The voting schedule is:
- First round through Thursday, March 28, at 1 p.m.
- Quarterfinal round through Monday, April 1 at 1 p.m.
- Semifinal round through Thursday, April 4 at 1 p.m.
- Final round ends Saturday, April 6, at 1 p.m.
Follow the action and get more information about the Clinton Global Initiative University Challenge at http://www.cgiu.org/.