Source: David Westfall, davidwes@k-state.edu

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010

K-STATE GRADUATE STUDENT TO ATTEND NATIONAL POVERTY SUMMIT IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

MANHATTAN -- A Kansas State University graduate student's efforts to raise awareness about global poverty have earned him an invitation to the "Power 100 Summit" in Washington, D.C., Jan. 29-Feb. 1.

David Westfall, a doctoral student in sociology, Arcadia, earned a spot at the third annual summit by participating in the ONE Campus Challenge, a competition that engages college campuses to take action in the fight against global poverty. The schools that earned the most points and that rank within the top 100 schools in the competition have students attending the national summit.

The summit is organized by ONE, a global advocacy and campaigning organization dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. It brings together top student leaders from 100 campuses from across the country.

At the summit, Westfall and the other students will come together, meet with their congressional representatives and hear from well-known speakers, policy experts, thought leaders and activists. Speakers include Susan Smith Ellis, Product (RED); Robert Draper, correspondent for GQ and contributor to the New York Times and National Geographic; Will Herberich, the Millennium Campus Network; Scott Hahn, co-founder of the clothing brand Edun; Pam Cope, an author and activist; and David Lane, president of ONE.

According to ONE, K-State's Westfall and other students attending earned their summit invitations by calling on their members of Congress and recruiting other students. Schools comprising the "Power 100" have taken more than 50,000 education, awareness raising and advocacy actions, recruited more than 10,000 new ONE members, and collected, in only 20 days, more than 20,000 used books for the Liberian Literacy Foundation.

Kansas was designated a "ONE State" by Gov. Mark Parkinson, who signed a proclamation Jan. 22 to support the organization's efforts to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease. More information about ONE is available at http://www.ONE.org