The University's division of the Global Brigades participated in yesterday's nationwide event to celebrate and garner interest in student-led international development. The event, which aims to raise national awareness about global development and poverty, took place on 40 campuses across the country.
Orion Haas, director of Student Empowerment for Global Brigades, said the nonprofit organization strives to be the world's largest student-led organization for sustainable development.
The University's division of the Global Brigades is "a great example of the way young people can get involved doing multidisciplinary sustainable development work while in college," Haas said, as well as one of the brigades' "most experienced" and "longest standing" campuses.
Still, part of the purpose of Global Brigades Day is to involve more University students in sustainable development projects, Haas said.
Brigades programs often focus on developing and implementing sustainable development projects in Central America. Though brigades have traditionally gone to Honduras and Panama, Haas said the organization is looking to expand into East Africa during the next few years.
Of the brigades' nine discipline programs, medical and dental programs are commonly instituted. But the University's division has some new brigades in the works, including business, architecture, public health and environmental brigades. The organization also is interested in founding divisions that specialize in law and microfinance.
Jamie Claire, co-president for the Medical and Dental Brigades, explained that the organization as a whole has established programs but that more people still are needed.
To attract people to the brigades this week, the club has engaged in traditional promotional activities, such as flyering and sponsoring fundraisers. But the brigades have used less orthodox manners of publicity as well, such as building and painting a snow globe in the Amphitheater to represent the club's symbol.
"Right now, we're not really well known and we want to be able to just put up our globe and people will understand what it stands for," Water Brigades President Lauren Coogle said.
"By acting all at once, [we] hope to bring unity between all of our clubs and students interested in global development work," Haas said.
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