UAB among top five schools in the nation with 15 students representing at Clinton Global Initiative University

As part of the CGI U, students developed initiatives focused on health, education, poverty, environment, human rights, poverty alleviation and public health, impacting local and global communities.The University of Alabama at Birmingham had a historic number of students selected for the Clinton Global Initiative University annual meeting, with 15 students attending.

The students developed new, specific and measurable initiatives that addressed one of the five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health.

“We were so excited to return to in-person participation at the Clinton Global University Initiative for the first time since 2019,” said Gareth Jones, director of UAB Service Learning and Undergraduate Research. “While continuing to send students to the online version, we were eager to experience the in-person meeting. We had 15 amazing students who proposed Commitments to Action that will continue the tradition of UAB students’ being change-makers in the global community. Our office was thrilled to support these students as they shared their plans and visions with innovators and community builders from around the world.”

CGI U gathers hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students worldwide to collaborate with influential leaders, experts and innovators on solving humanity’s most pressing problems. This year, the first in-person assembly was held after the pandemic and the theme was “Homecoming: Strengthening Community, Leadership & Action.”

Vanderbilt University hosted the 2023 assembly, which was led by former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton. Featured speakers included Pete Buttigieg, United States secretary of Transportation, among others.

UAB students were among nearly 700 students representing 92 nations and 42 states who gained expertise and inspiration from influential leaders.

UAB’s CGI U students represent the School of Public Health, Collat School of Business, and College of Arts and Sciences with their Commitment to Action projects focused on specific areas:

School of Public Health

• Rachael George of Birmingham, Alabama, an Honors College student in the University Honors Program, is a junior, and Ashling Landers of Enterprise, Alabama, an Honors College student in the Global and Community Leadership Honors Program, is a senior majoring in public health. They will pursue increasing the safe use of sustainable micro mobility devices in urban communities within the Southeast by offering resources and education opportunities.
• Lauren Mullis of Monroe, North Carolina, is a graduate student majoring in public health. Her project will focus on building climate change resilience and addressing health and social vulnerabilities in Birmingham, Alabama, and Karachi, Pakistan.

Collat School of Business

• D’Andre McBride of Montgomery, Alabama, an Honors College student in the Global and Community Leadership Honors Program, is a junior majoring in entrepreneurship. He proposed starting a nonprofit organization that focuses on career and professional development for high school students in underserved communities that lack quality education.

College of Arts and Sciences

• Whitney Chaney of York, Alabama, an Honors College student in the Science and Technology Honors Program, is a senior majoring in genetics and genomic sciences. Her project will focus on the food desert and the lack of nutritional education that affects the health of many individuals living in rural areas.
• Suhas Kellampalli of Hyderabad, India, an Honors College student in the Science and Technology Honors Program, is a senior majoring in neuroscience committed to creating a nonprofit organization in India that equips people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with the information and resources they need to live fulfilling lives.
• Wajiha Mekki of Lawrenceville, Georgia, an Honors College student on a Personalized Pathway, is a senior majoring in cancer biology. She will work with the initiative First Aid for All (FAFA) to mobilize first aid resources and education to rural and remote areas in Pakistan with hopes to expand throughout South Asia.
• Cassidy Stoddart of Suwanee, Georgia, an Honors College student on a Personalized Pathway, is a junior majoring in medical sociology. She proposed increasing literacy rates among elementary and middle school students in the Birmingham City Schools system by creating a reading and writing center with an early intervention program.
• Lynne Zhou of Birmingham, Alabama, an Honors College student on a Personalized Pathway, is a senior majoring in neuroscience pursuing improving clean water access in Alabama’s Black Belt rural community by implementing a community-managed water filtration system and solar-powered pumping system.

Interdisciplinary

• Raj Bappanad of John’s Creek, Georgia, an Honors College student on a Personalized Pathway, and Nandini Vobbilisetty of Hoover, Alabama, an Honors College student in the Scinece and technology Honors Program, are seniors majoring in neuroscience. They teamed up with Agasthya Vedre-Kyanam of Birmingham, Alabama, a senior majoring in medical sociology. The group will work together to analyze the experiences and attitudes of victims of institutional psychiatric abuse to inform clinical mental health practice and empower patients at UAB Hospital.
• Karim Mikhail of Hoover, Alabama, and Nikhita Mudium of Madison, Alabama, are Honors College seniors in the Science and Technology Honors Program majoring in neuroscience. They will work as a team with Tapasya Katta of Suwanee, Georgia, an Honors College senior on the Personlaized Pathway majoring in medical sociology, on Expanding Science to Students Everywhere (ESSE), a community-based outreach project aimed to increase access to STEM research and careers among underrepresented Birmingham high school students.

Since President Clinton founded CGI U, more than 11,800 students from over 1,800 schools have made an impact in over 160 countries and all 50 states. Their efforts have culminated in more than 8,400 Commitments to Action, adding nearly 700 made by this year’s participants.