Acknowledgements
First and foremost, we would like to thank this year's host campus, Vanderbilt University, for providing such a welcoming environment for this event, as well as making important resources available during the process of planning the conference. We are particularly grateful to the following individuals and departments:
- The staff of the Office of Active Citizenship and Service (OACS). Extra special thanks are owed to Britta Watters and Mark Dalhouse who have devoted so much time and energy to making this conference a success! (Also, Russ has an official IOU to take Britta to the lost luggage store.)
- The Division of Student Life, especially Sandy Stahl and Greg Swanson, as well as CLIPS and Student Activities
- The College of Arts and Sciences, especially Marshall Eakin and Dean George Sweeney
- The College of Engineering, especially Associate Professor Sanjiv Gokhale
- All of the staff at Vanderbilt's Dining Services, especially Camp Howard, Frank Gladu and Amy Smartt
- Jack Davis and the rest of the staff at the Student Life Center
- The Office of Housing and Residential Education, especially Associate Vice Chancellor Mark Bandas, as well as the Office of Greek Life
- The staff and administrators at The Schulman Center, The Bishop Johnson Black Cultural Center, and Vanderbilt's Medical School
- The Plant Operations staff
- Jason Hall and the rest of the staff at the Office of Traffic and Parking
- Penny Peirce and the other folks at the Learning Resource Center
Thank you all!!!
This event would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of the members of the Student Planning Committee and Conference volunteers. Special thanks to SPC Director extraordinaire Stacy Tolos and this year's fantastic Committee Chairs - Star Wallin, Bartholomew Freeze, Amber Herber, Erin Leggett, Sarah Gillespie, Leah Morgan and Monica Brown, and our Oxfam Hunger Banquet Coordinators - Greg Shivers and TC Pilson. You guys are amazing!!
We are honored to be joined this year by three very distinguished keynote speakers: Medea Benjamin, Patrick Guerriero and Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. We thank you all for lending your time, talents and words of inspiration to this year's conference.
We are so grateful to Andrew Maraniss, Chowning Johnson and Becca Stinson...and all the wonderful people at McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations in Nashville. Your support and encouragement have been invaluable both for us and the members of the Student Planning Committee over the past year. Thank you!
Thanks to David Lubell with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) (and Shannon Hapgood!) for being such great Nashville hosts.
We also wish to recognize all of our terrific Conference Sponsors - thank you for your support of this event, and for sharing the important work that you do with students and other participants.
Thanks to Powell's City of Books in Portland Oregon for generously providing gift certificates to this year's award winners - what a great way to recognize their accomplishments!
Without the significant contributions of our Friday Forum Partner Organizations, Workshop presenters, Plenary speakers, Affinity Group conveners and Poster Session presenters, this conference would not be what it is. Thank you all for traveling near and far to be with us, and for contributing to the diverse, rich and ever-evolving content of this event. We'd also like to extend a special note of thanks to student presenters - thank you for helping to make this a student-run, student-led event.
Our hats are off to the C.O.O.L. Idealist Conference Ambassadors! Thanks for helping to organize your fellow students and to promote this event on your campuses. You all did a great job!
A special note of thanks is owed to the folks at the Bonner Foundation, especially Wayne, Bobby and Ari. The legacy of your work is still very much a part of this conference and your vision continues to influence and shape what we do at Idealist On Campus every day.
We would like to recognize all of the members of our Career Services Advisory Board, Idealist On Campus Advisory Board and Student Advisory Board members for their contributions to this event as well as the rest of our programs. Many thanks to each and every one of you for the time that you take to serve on our boards and the support that you provide for the work that we do every day.
Finally, we would like to thank the rest of our colleagues at Action Without Borders/Idealist.org, many of whom were instrumental and supportive in helping to plan and execute this conference! In particular, we'd like to thank Charlotte, Eric, Jacky, Abram, Matt and Steve for lending us your time, talents and (at times) patience - you all have a part in helping to make this event such a success.
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