UNT was honored and two students received $1,000 Outstanding Commitment grants at the Clinton Global Initiative University Meeting this spring for efforts to create positive social change by addressing poverty, education and the environment.

UNT was commended for its commitment to action through the International Indigenous Institute on Culture and Environment. The institute is designed to improve understanding, respect and inclusion of indigenous values about the environment by policymakers and university communities. UNT also co-sponsors with the U.S. Department of State an annual indigenous student videoconference.          

Brian Weinberg (’09) accepted the award for Recycle to Eradicate Poverty, a program designed to provide loans to the poor by recycling used cell phones. Senior Lindsey Bengfort received the award for the Kroo Bay Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring high-quality, primary-level education in the informal housing settlement in Sierra Leone.