Zombies, Parades, and More: Students Get Creative About the National Debt

Why is it Up to Us? 

“No great country can remain great if it spends all its money on today and yesterday and too little on tomorrow. You have to invest in tomorrow.” – President Clinton, CGI U 2015 

Up to Us is a campus competition where student teams compete to raise awareness about our nation’s long-term national debt -- a topic that, let’s be real, is not the most exciting thing to talk about. While long-term national debt is not a hot topic outside Capitol Hill and economics classrooms, it is really important for our generation to get educated about and start asking our elected officials to account for. For three years, Net Impact, CGI U and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation have encouraged student leaders on campuses across the country to raise awareness about this issue. Every year, we're all blown away by the students' creativity and enthusiasm.

Some examples from this year:

• Stockton University removed all the furniture from the main student center and posted a sign saying, “We sold our furniture to pay off the national debt” as a way to raise awareness in their student body about the national debt.
• University of Miami students got dressed as zombies as part of their "Walking Debt" campaign to educate students about the national debt.
• Duquesne University students hit people in the stomach with their "TacoBout the Debt" activity, dressed up as tacos and giving away free food to students who would talk with them.
• Loyola University New Orleans held a Mardi Gras parade on campus.
• Pennsylvania State University held a Twitter competition where students were asked to tweet about their thoughts on the national debt.

See what we mean? Through campaigns like those, the Up to Us teams got their message to more than 16,000 students. And there’s more: more than 11,000 students took a pledge that they care about the national debt, 25 Congress members were directly engaged in the issue, and representatives from the top 20 teams met President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton at CGI U in Miami.

Up to Us is more than a competition -- it's a movement of civically engaged student leaders who, over the course of a year, gain leadership and project management skills with our valuable training program. 

“Up to Us is a national competition, a movement...that has connected me with entrepreneurial-minded peers from all over the country. The competition provided me a platform to proactively engage with a policy issue that I care deeply about. Throughout the competition, I was constantly challenged to think on my feet, conduct outreach, and build new relationships. It gave me an opportunity to refine my project management and communications skills. Even as a senior business student, I learned a great deal about teamwork from Up to Us.” – Danny Zeng, Up to Us Team Leader

For the first time ever, Up to Us is accepting early applications for the 2016 competition. If you're interested, apply now, and we'll get in touch with you. Or, as President Clinton said, “It is up to you, and you’re up to it.” 

Apply now!