Spring Hill College welcomes a ONE Campus chapter to the Hill this Spring.
ONE is an international organization taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Co-founded by Bono, this organization raises public awareness and work with political leaders to increase investments in agriculture and nutrition and demand greater transparency, so governments are more accountable for their citizens.
Spring Hill College senior, Mary Hutti and freshman Grace Gundlach brought it upon themselves to make the issues ONE focuses on apparent to the SHC community. In 2007, ONE launched the ONE Campus Challenge to impel college students into action, focusing on the powerful changes they can make with just their voices to fight against extreme poverty.
In order for a university to establish a chapter of the organization on its campus, they must be eligible. Gundlach explained, “In order to become an eligible student organization and be eligible with ONE Campus, we filled out a series of student organization forms, created a club constitution, gathered at least five members, created an executive board, and had a meeting with the office of student organizations. We had to keep in mind that in order to be an eligible club, we had to be in line with the mission and purpose of Spring Hill College.”
Through action-oriented campaigns, students, alumni, and faculty work together to take important advocacy actions that lobby political leaders to support programs that will save lives and help create better futures for those in the emerging world.
Hutti said she was motivated to bring ONE to SHC’s campus. She stated, “[I] wanted to start ONE Campus because [Grace and I] saw that there were clubs and organizations that were actively serving the community and giving back, but we didn’t see very many people getting involved in their government. One of the reasons this club is so special to me is because it gives a voice to one of the most influential generations, college students, and I wanted to see more of this on our campus.”
Staff advisor of the club Joan Wilson’s role is to assist in achieving the goal of ONE campus and to support leaders of One Campus at Spring Hill, Hutti and Gundlach. Wilson states, “My personal goal for One Campus here at Spring Hill is to engage our students into what is happening in the world, what we can do, and how we can live out Spring Hill College’s mission being stewards of our global community.”
ONE Campus is a new club which has a lot to offer to Spring Hill students. Should one be interested in joining this club or taking part in their activities, contact Grace Gundlach, Mary Hutti or Joan Wilson.
(Multimedia story below by Emily Buck)
