University of Dayton alumnus Drew Formentini is providing current senior Abby Kowalczyk with the opportunity to attend the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) conference to address issues on campuses, in local communities or around the world

Gallagher, Clare

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University of Dayton

University of Dayton eCommons College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom College of Arts and Sciences Administration 9-25-2017 Student to Attend Clinton Global Initiative University Clare Gallagher University of Dayton Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/cas_blog eCommons Citation Gallagher, Clare, "Student to Attend Clinton Global Initiative University" (2017). College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom. 137. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/cas_blog/137 This Blog is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts and Sciences Administration at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact mschlangen1@udayton.edu, ecommons@udayton.edu. 1/2Student to Attend Clinton Global Initiative Universityudayton.edu/blogs/artssciences/2017-stories/17-09-25-clinton-global-initiative.phpMonday September 25, 2017University of Dayton alumnus Drew Formentini is providing current senior Abby Kowalczykwith the opportunity to attend the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) conference toaddress issues on campuses, in local communities or around the world.The conference, Oct. 13-15 at Northeastern University in Boston, engages students inleadership on college campuses to pick a pressing global issue and present their ideas tosolve it.“It’s really amazing having that support and not just financially, but being there to answerquestions and help me through the process,” Kowalczyk said. “He’s been so helpful andbeen so open with sharing his experiences.”Formentini participated in this conference in 2010 as a graduate student thanks to the FitzCenter, so he wanted to give another student the same opportunity. Formentini partneredwith the Fitz Center this year to provide Kowalczyk airfare.“I got a lot out of it,” Formentini said. “The whole experience was very impactful for me.”Kowalczyk, an international studies major from Ann Arbor, Michigan, applied for CGI U toaddress the gap between campus and the international community in Dayton and theirlanguage barriers.“Immigration is something I became really passionate about and it shows in all my classesand my studies,” said Kowalczyk, who focuses on global migration and economicdevelopment. She had volunteered at Catholic Social Services in Dayton and Ann Arbor, withrefugee resettlement.2/2Kowalczyk also studies French, which has helped engage the international community inDayton. She was able to help refugees on where to live, translate, and help them build aresume.“While it would be super difficult for anyone who just spoke English, it became a lot easier tobridge that language barrier and it ultimately made me form a a lot of meaningfulrelationships with refugees who I never would have gotten to talk to,” Kowalczyk said.Her experience with refugees and immigrants made her want to make others aware of thelarge international community in Dayton.Kowalczyk hopes to execute her commitment to action by using campus resources such assecond-language speakers, classes and different world languages to help the internationalorganizations.“I’m hoping to meet with a lot of people who are involved with the international community, oncampus and off campus to get some feedback and see what their needs are,” Kowalczyksaid. “It’s easy to say that I see this as a problem but sometimes you have to listen firstbefore you go out and make a difference.”This year’s conference will bring together more than 1,100 students to make commitments toaction in five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and humanrights, poverty alleviation and public health. More than $750,000 in funding will be availableto select students to help them turn their ideas into action.- Clare Gallagher ’18  

Student to Attend Clinton Global Initiative University

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Student to Attend Clinton Global Initiative University

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