UM Law students Evian White and Dalia Weintraub traveled to Texas this month to participate in the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) meeting held at the University of Texas at Austin on February 13-15, 2009. White, 2L, and Weintraub, 1L, were among 15 students from the University of Miami to take part in the conference, where nearly 1,000 college students and approximately 100 university presidents, including UM President Donna E. Shalala, joined leading non-profit organizations, social entrepreneurs, and youth leaders to address global issues related to Education, Energy & Climate Change, Global Health, Peace & Human Rights, and Poverty Alleviation.

	A group of University of Miami students stands with UM President Donna E. Shalala and President Bill Clinton, at the second Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) meeting.

The meeting was the second of its kind, following the inaugural CGU I meeting held in March 2008 at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Hundreds of students, university officials, and global activists came together from nearly every state and 15 countries to address the focus areas and give back to New Orleans. Attendees participated in a service project with Brad Pitt's Make It Right project in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, preparing sites for the construction of new homes in the neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

CGI U, launched in 2007, builds on the model of the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, established by former President Bill Clinton in 2005, and challenges students and universities to tackle global problems with practical, innovative solutions. Throughout the year, and as a prerequisite of attending the CGI U meeting, students and university officials develop Commitments to Action: specific plans of action that address a critical challenge on campus, in the community, or in different parts of the globe.

“The conference was an amazing experience and we had the opportunity to meet undergraduate and graduate students from all over the nation with a wide range of innovative ideas for projects to help people,” said Weintraub.

The commitments developed by UM students ranged from clean water supply projects for Peru to HIV/AIDS service learning in Los Angeles to poverty campaigns here in Miami-Dade. At the meeting in Texas, students attended workshops which included working sessions as well as skill sessions where students learned how to properly market and build their project. The workshops are designed to help students implement their commitments. They will go on to work with UM faculty and staff to identify a mentor and organize panel discussions to inform the community of their projects.

White and Weintraub developed a commitment called The Justice for Juveniles Resource Center, a hub that assists juveniles in the juvenile justice system. The center will centralize information about organizations that provide aid to those in the system, help juveniles to apply for aid, and connect volunteers to organizations. The HOPE Public Interest Resource Center assisted Weintraub and White with their proposal. Both said they look forward to working with HOPE to fulfill their Commitment to Action.

posted 27-February-2009

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