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Various community colleges across the country will serve as virtual host campuses for the 2022 Clinton Global Initiative University annual meeting, which gathers students from around the world selected for the Clinton Foundation’s yearlong leadership development program. Undergraduate and graduate students meet with academics and world leaders as part of the program and develop projects to address social and economic challenges students face over the course of the year.
The decision to involve community colleges is the result of a new partnership between the Clinton Foundation and the American Association of Community Colleges, according to an announcement by Clinton Foundation leaders today. Past host campuses included the University of Chicago, Northeastern University and the University of California, Berkeley, among others. Howard University was the virtual host in 2021.
Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the foundation, said the goal of the partnership is to “reach even more students and bring together the next generation of change makers.”
The program has had about 10,000 participants from more than 1,000 higher education institutions in 163 countries since it launched in 2007.
The mission of community colleges is “at the core” of what the Clinton Global Initiative is trying to accomplish, Bill Clinton said in a press release. “Community colleges by their very nature are inclusive, and promote opportunity for all. Community colleges are open to everyone, giving people a chance to pursue a higher education and create better lives for themselves and their families.”
Walter G. Bumphus, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges, said involving community colleges in hosting the annual meeting will benefit community college students by helping them “address current issues and advance innovation from idea to reality in a real-world setting” as participants in the program. He added that the Clinton Foundation will benefit as well.
“Our community colleges will now be able to connect and contribute to the vast network of CGI U Scholars and resources,” he said in the release. “And, the CGI University will gain from the contributions of the 11.8 million community college students representing the diversity of our colleges and our country.”
