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Arizona State University (ASU) has opened Changemaker Central, a collaborative space on each of their four campuses
where students can meet with like-minded individuals who want to make a
difference. Changemaker Central is a
student-run and staff supported organization. The students invite budding entrepreneurs
and activists to their meetings and listen to their ides, pitches and dreams,
and direct them to relevant resources. They support students at all stages of
their process.
The way this program got started,
was that students leaders at ASU saw hundreds of fellow students put their
passion in various social causes. These students were inspired by everything
around them and turned that inspiration into action. Not all of their ideas
could be turned into action since the necessary tools were difficult to obtain.
Through student demand, Changemaker
Central was opened and provided the accessible tools for activism and entrepreneurship.
The students at Changemaker Central have developed five simple steps to inspire
social change:
- Believe- you must see yourself as someone who can
make a difference
- Commit- It takes more than just an innovative
idea to make a change. Once you have found that thing you are passionate
about, commit to your cause and to seeing it through.
- Connect- Few people can do everything by themselves;
it often takes a team of diverse individuals to make an idea come to fruition.
Connect with other individuals who have a
passion for the same cause you do
- Implement- MAKE IT HAPPEN.
- Repeat- Do it again. Success rarely comes the
first time around. Even if one idea does no work that does not mean
another idea will have the same results.
I thought this was a great idea in helping student’s ideas
take shape and form social action. ASU saw that their students were passionate
and set up this program to allow the students to flourish their ideas. The
program has already had several successful student ventures, some even earning national
recognition for their social impact.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2013/02/19/5-steps-for-transforming-student-passion-into-social-action/
I like this idea, and it's nice to hear about ASU and social action for a change. I always found it ironic that the largest university in the country cannot compete with a small liberal arts college like St. Mary's in terms of community service and civic engagement. In the past, ASU's most inspiring contribution seems to be its football team (that's a joke)! I'd like to know more about the types of projects they're working on though!
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see that more and more universities are taking action and are working on improving their social work. In my opinion it is really important for students to give back to the community and to be aware of how people live and suffer around them. To become successful business persons or doctors, or engineers, we all need to be aware of the social problems arounds us in order to serve others in trying to make this world a better place. In my opinion every university should be like St. Marys and devote a lot of time and energy in giving back to the community. It builds better professionals as well as better human beings.
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