BYU Honored as ‘Changemaker Campus’

PROVO, Utah – Sep 24, 2012 – Brigham Young University has been designated a Changemaker Campus by Ashoka U.  Ashoka U, a subset of the international nonprofit organization Ashoka, is an initiative set forth to promote social entrepreneurship in universities. BYU was named for its ability to produce influential students who make a difference on a local and a global stage. Nineteen universities, including BYU, around the world are honored with this status.

BYU received the Changemaker Campus title through the efforts of the Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance. The center incorporates the ideas of a Changemaker Campus by encouraging and teaching students to find innovative solutions to social problems.

In the last year, the Ballard Center has hosted the TEDxBYU event, a campus Student Venture Competition and a national Social Entrepreneur Case Competition for graduate students. More than two hundred students have completed internships through the Ballard Center; two thousand students have participated with the Ballard Center in other ways, including entering the Peery Film Festival and participating in BYU's Hunger Banquet.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.