Our Commitment to Action

Washington University is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 22% by 2020. To advance this goal, the university has established an Energy Conservation Investment of $30 million.
essays onlineCGI U 2013 was at Washington University in St. Louis from April 5-7, 2013, bringing together nearly 1,200 attendees to make a difference in CGI U’s five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health.
More than 250 students, faculty, staff and friends from across the university gathered at Gateway STEM High School last Saturday, March 30, to help lay the groundwork for this weekend’s… Keep reading →
Public service and global leadership are at the heart of the mission of Washington University in St. Louis. Our students, faculty and staff are leading the way to address urgent global challenges in the CGI’s five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation and public health.
Commitments to Action are new, specific, and measurable initiatives that address social or environmental challenges on campuses, in communities, or in different parts of the world. Proposed by an individual or a group, commitments translate practical goals into meaningful and measurable results. WUSTL is proud of all 200 of our students who have made a commitment to action through CGI U. Here is a sample of the projects our students are working on.
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Green Light St. Louis, an extension of Green Light New Orleans, replaces incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) in low-income households for free. By installing CFLs in homes that could not afford to switch otherwise, Green Light St. Louis shows that a movement of individual actions can significantly impact families’ lives and the environment.
Team LumaCure has identified one of the most significant factors that contribute towards neonatal deaths — hyperbilirubinemia, or jaundice. The team’s goal is to make a low cost and portable phototherapeutic treatment device that will help treat neonatal jaundice using Electroluminescence instead of the existing LED / halogen lamp phototherapy solutions. The team has been researching and thinking about this problem, and feels it has come up with a better, cheaper solution that is not currently available.
Andrew Brimer and Abigail Cohen are the co-founders of Sparo Labs, a company that has invented an award-winning, patent-pending device that revolutionizes the management of chronic respiratory diseases. They believe that the key to better health care is education, and committed to partnering with a national organization to develop a campaign that raises asthma awareness and educates patients on how to best manage their asthma.
In urban communities around the world, young people all too often find their lives circumscribed by poverty, crime and a lack of education. U.Y.N.T (Urban Youth Nation of Tomorrow) aims to provide young people from these communities chances to experience higher education, travel and mentorship.
This plan seeks to educate Costa Ricans about problematic behaviors handed from generation to generation, among them drinking coconut milk to prevent pregnancy and feeding babies bottles containing coffee and sugar.
This plan seeks to address St. Louis' significant prevalence of sickle cell disease through visits to high schools to educate students about how the disease is passed from parent to child and to encourage meetings with genetic counselors.
This project seeks to turn a single room in St. Louis into an overpowering art exhibit of human strength and courage. Beginning with a social media campaign, the project is asking for stories, artwork, photographs, and other creative expressions by all individuals impacted by gender-based violence – not just the survivors themselves.
This project is committed to improve access to healthy fruits and vegetables for residents of the Columbus Square neighborhood in St. Louis. They will partner with local farmers, gardening organizations, WUSTL faculty, and the Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, to develop a summer program for youth that focuses on gardening, healthy eating and team building.
We are using Storify to curate the preparations, applications, and energy leading up to CGI U at Washington University in April, 2013. Be a part of the conversation! Tweet, post to Facebook and Tumblr, or send us links to blogs. Help us build the story for Washington University and CGI U.
While CGI U sessions are not open to the public, everyone has the opportunity to engage in a number of ways. You can:
Everyone is welcome to attend a live feed of the CGI U sessions featuring President Bill Clinton and TV personality Stephen Colbert in Tisch Commons on the DUC movie screen. Additional sessions will be presented in the DUC Fun Room.
April 5, 6:30 p.m.
Opening Session by President Bill Clinton
April 6, 3:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks by Stephen Colbert
Press registration is now open to members of the media. To apply, please complete the press access form on the CGI U website.
CGI U 2013 Meeting Agenda
For the complete participant details and meeting agenda, including plenary sessions, skill and working sessions, and the service project, visit cgiu.org.