Oakland University’s innovative ‘Fiscally Fit’ campaign engaged
students on the nation’s $22 trillion-and-growing debt stood out among
more than 100 campus teams nationwide
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Up
to Us, the nationwide, non-partisan campus-based initiative that
mobilizes young people to promote fiscal sustainability, announced that
the student team from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, is the
winner of the seventh annual Up to Us Campus Competition.
In addition to receiving a $10,000 cash prize, campus leaders from
Oakland University’s winning team will travel to Washington, D.C. for
recognition at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s annual Fiscal
Summit. The winning team will also join student representatives from
the other top Up to Us teams to meet with legislators on Capitol Hill to
share their concerns about the country’s fiscal challenges.
“The creativity and drive of the students involved in this year’s Up to
Us Campus Competition leaves no doubt that America’s young people care
passionately about the fiscal future and the economy they will inherit,”
said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson
Foundation. “Among more than 100 teams, the winning students from
Oakland University demonstrated their own campaign fitness by launching
their ‘Fiscally Fit’ drive to mobilize their peers, raise awareness and
spark action on behalf of the next generation.”
The team from Oakland University, led by Nathan Pigott (Class of
2020), created a campaign to raise awareness about the national debt and
sparked a dialogue about building a sustainable economic future for all
Americans. Pigott and his team built their campaign around the slogan
“Fiscally Fit,” challenging peers to exercise their minds by educating
themselves on the national debt – engaging in activities that
incorporated both physical and fiscal fitness challenges. This is the
first year that Oakland University has participated in the Campus
Competition.
“My teammates and I joined the Up to Us Campus Competition to raise
awareness among our peers of the very real challenge that the national
debt poses to our generation,” said Pigott. “Our campaign focused on fun
and engaging activities to spark interest among students and challenged
them to become ‘Fiscally Fit,’ by understanding key facts and figures
about the nation’s growing debt and feeling empowered to do something
about it – through civic engagement and exercising the right to vote.”
The Oakland University team partnered with numerous other student
organizations to expand their reach and engaged hundreds of students
through voter registration drives, classroom presentations, media
partnerships and creative events. These
events included a miniature boot camp that allowed students to test
their physical fitness before taking a fiscal fitness test, a pledge
signature drive that used a giant beach ball as a visual representation
of inflation, and a national debt awareness parade through campus. For
the finale, the team hosted an Ultimate Fiscal Fitness Challenge
featuring a gameshow-style competition between student leaders, allowing
them to show off their new-found fiscal knowledge and explain why young
people should care about the national debt.
The finalists and winner of the 2018-2019 Campus Competition were
determined by a panel of judges with expertise spanning civic
engagement, economic policy, and education: Shai Akabas, Director
of Economic Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center; Fatema Basrai,
Assistant Director of InnovateHealth at Yale University; Kristen
Dupard, JD candidate at Columbia University and double alumnae of
the Clinton Global Initiative University; Tony Pennay, Chief
Learning Officer at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and
Institute; James Roland, Senior Director of Civic and Community
Engagement at Emory University; and Nitiya Walker, Founder of
Seeds of Fortune.
In addition to Oakland University, the top twenty 2018-2019 Up to Us
Campus Competition finalists include:
- Barnard College
- Binghamton University
- Boston University
- Chapman University
- Claflin University
- Kennesaw State University
- Lynn University
- Miami Dade College – Wolfson Campus
- Oklahoma Christian University
- Pitzer College
- San Francisco State University
- Schoolcraft College
- Southwestern University
- State University of New York, Oswego
- University of Alaska Anchorage
- University of California, Irvine
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
- University of Illinois at Chicago
To learn more about Up to Us and about how to get involved in the
movement, visit www.itsuptous.org.
About Up to Us
Up
to Us is a movement of a generation, for a generation that
lets policymakers know that young Americans are committed to addressing
the nation’s fiscal challenges. Since 2012, Up to Us has created a
groundswell of student leaders who’ve engaged and empowered more than
230,000 of their peers towards a more prosperous fiscal future. Created
in partnership with the Peter
G. Peterson Foundation, Clinton
Global Initiative University (CGI U) and Net
Impact, Up to Us provides the opportunity for students to
build a movement to raise awareness and engagement on America’s fiscal
challenges, and hosts an annual competition that takes place on college
campuses nationwide.
Contacts
Julie Walsh
(202) 518-6489
[email protected]
