Students win peace grants
Two student projects selected for $10,000 grant
Tajreen Hedayet
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: News
In a competition spanning over 85 college campuses throughout the country, proposals by students at the College obtained two of the 100 grants for $10,000 awarded by the Davis Projects for Peace initiative. The pairings of Qiamuddin Amiry '09 and John Campbell '09, and Nancy McDermott '08 and Emily Goodnow '09], will receive the grants to work on their projects during the summer of 2008.
The Davis Projects for Peace is a program which allows students in schools affiliated with the Davis United World College Scholars Program to design their own grassroots projects for peace that can be implemented anywhere in the world. The project began last year as an effort by lifelong philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis to motivate students to actively take part in promoting peace in the 21st century. The program is now in its second year, with a hundred new projects taking place throughout the world. "I want to use my 100 birthday to help young people launch some immediate initiatives -things that they can do during the summer of 2007-that will bring new thinking to the prospects of peace in the world," Davis said last year, when she celebrated her centennial by committing $1 million for 100 Projects for Peace. Two proposals sent by two groups at the College received grants from the program at the time, also.
The initiative encourages creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in the applicants, who submitted their final proposals for this summer on Dec. 17, 2007. This year, a committee comprising six faculty members, including professors in a variety of fields and a Dean, selected which proposals would be submitted.
Amiry, a former student of Li Po Chun United World College, explained in his proposal that he recognized the importance of education and tolerance years ago. "At UWC, I got to know people from Israel to Malawi with whom I discussed sensitive issues from religion to politics and war. Those two years transformed me into a more tolerant person; I feel the responsibility to spread the message of peace and tolerance to the world." He believes his home country is filled with youth who "starve from lack of education and understanding."
The Davis Projects for Peace is a program which allows students in schools affiliated with the Davis United World College Scholars Program to design their own grassroots projects for peace that can be implemented anywhere in the world. The project began last year as an effort by lifelong philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis to motivate students to actively take part in promoting peace in the 21st century. The program is now in its second year, with a hundred new projects taking place throughout the world. "I want to use my 100 birthday to help young people launch some immediate initiatives -things that they can do during the summer of 2007-that will bring new thinking to the prospects of peace in the world," Davis said last year, when she celebrated her centennial by committing $1 million for 100 Projects for Peace. Two proposals sent by two groups at the College received grants from the program at the time, also.
The initiative encourages creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in the applicants, who submitted their final proposals for this summer on Dec. 17, 2007. This year, a committee comprising six faculty members, including professors in a variety of fields and a Dean, selected which proposals would be submitted.
Amiry, a former student of Li Po Chun United World College, explained in his proposal that he recognized the importance of education and tolerance years ago. "At UWC, I got to know people from Israel to Malawi with whom I discussed sensitive issues from religion to politics and war. Those two years transformed me into a more tolerant person; I feel the responsibility to spread the message of peace and tolerance to the world." He believes his home country is filled with youth who "starve from lack of education and understanding."
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