A team of Bellarmine University students finished third in a nationwide campus competition
designed to raise awareness about the national debt.
The top five:
- Stockton University
- Texas State University
- Bellarmine University
- Regent University
- University of Miami
The competition’s national organizers recognized Bellarmine’s team for using creative strategies to engage their fellow students, including debt bingo
and a debt carnival that playfully communicated a message that the national debt will
not magically disappear.
Cathleen Jeanty, a senior English major who is the team’s leader, earned a trip to
Miami this weekend to participate in a Clinton Global Initiative University gathering.
“We are ecstatic and humbled to have been chosen as one of the top three campaigns
this year," said Jeanty. "The knowledge we acquired from participating is absolutely
invaluable. Up to Us provided us with just the right tools to put together an instructive, effective campaign.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time raising awareness on this campus, and with the knowledge
Up to Us has given us, it is now our responsibility to continue doing so, both on
campus and beyond."
In addition to Jeanty, Bellarmine’s team included Liz Escobar and Rebecca Spetz.
Bellarmine’s team wrote op-ed pieces in The Courier-Journal and KyForward.com, published a "Debt Dear Abby" column in Bellarmine's student newspaper and appeared on WHAS-11’s Great Day Live. They also met with Rep. John Yarmuth to discuss the national debt's impact on millennials.
The competition, sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation in partnership with
the Clinton Global Initiative University and Net Impact, brought together students
from 44 colleges and universities across the country to increase awareness and engagement
among their peers on an issue critical to their future: the nation’s long-term fiscal
health and economic strength.