Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University has won the first ONE Campus Challenge, a nationwide challenge to raise awareness about global poverty and “Make Poverty History.”
           
The announcement was made in a video posted on the ONE Campus Challenge blog, http://www.one.org/campus/blog/. As the winner, WKU will receive a concert featuring Martin Royle and Pash, Georgie James and Army of Me. WKU will also receive messages from Bono, Chris Daughtry and Jessica Szohr.
           
The ONE Campaign seeks to raise public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in developing countries. The ONE Campus Challenge is an effort to build the political will at colleges and universities around the United States to end poverty. 
           
Campus projects were graded by a panel of judges. Those scores were combined with a popular vote to determine the final winner. WKU finished ahead of schools such as Brandeis, Hofstra, George Washington, Princeton and Kansas State.
           
WKU’s project centered on a one day campus information blitz. “ONE Day at Western” sought to educate students on what they can do and to lead them to take action to make poverty history, ending with a rally at the Guthrie Bell Tower. Highlights included:

• Bowling Green Mayor Elaine Walker proclaiming Bowling Green a “City of ONE.”
• WKU President Gary Ransdell proclaiming WKU a “Campus of ONE” and delivering a powerful speech.
• Performances by local arts groups and bands.
• Ringing the Guthrie Tower bell once every three seconds for a minute to recognize that a child dies from poverty every three seconds.
• Partnering with the Political Engagement Project on a voter registration drive.
             

As a result, more than 1,700 students signed the ONE Declaration and more than 300 people wrote letters to legislators.
           
One of the judges said WKU “showed hustle and energy and engaged the entire community, which was impressive. Western Kentucky was savvy and the fact that they were able to get, for example, 160 people to send letter in support of the Education For All Act, showed a lot of tangible advocacy.”
           
More information about WKU’s project is available at http://one.org/projects/details.html?name=project7.