Freshmen Philanthropists

You’re handed $7, 500 to donate to any cause in the world. Go.

Or maybe pause to consider: How do I give?

That’s the question first-year students in Carillon Communities, one of UMD’s living-learning programs, have deliberated each fall for the past decade. They’re in iGive, the community where they learn about philanthropy, innovation and social change—and then make it happen.

In the “Leading and Investing in Social Change” class, students identify and select a pressing social issue in the local community through a multi-step discussion and voting process. Then they design a grant process, research organizations that address their issue, select and interview finalists, and award the $7,500 grant in partnership with the School of Public Policy, the Do Good Institute and Carillon Communities.

“The course looks at students as leaders who are interested in creating social change,” says Associate Clinical Professor Patricia Bory, who’s led the community since 2017.

After swarming a whiteboard with their Post-it notes to cast votes on 10 topics, last semester’s class focused on education accessibility for low-income students. Angelique Alphonse ’28 said she was looking forward to awarding the money because it would have long-term effects on the group later selected, the Immigrant & Refugee Outreach Center.

“As much as I enjoy discussing different issues and potential solutions, enacting actual change and staying up to date with it is really important to me,” she says.

Many of the students then go on to take the spring “Do Good Now” course, in which smaller teams devise an innovative way to support an existing social issue or create their own venture, then have the chance to compete for $20,000 in funding at the university’s annual Do Good Challenge.

Students from past classes focused on topics like mental health, reproductive justice, domestic violence and climate change. Grant recipients include the Baltimore Abortion Fund, the Adolescent Self Injury Foundation and the Trigger Project. The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit is dedicated to preventing the spread of gun violence through educational programs for teens and advocacy.

Founder Tia Bell recalls her pride at showcasing what the Trigger Project does and the challenges of chasing funding, and how she felt like the Terps gave her a chance.

“There were so many youth involved and (it was) student-led, which is a part of our mission,” she says.

After taking the course in 2021, Andrew Cullen ’25 has served as a teaching assistant every year since.

“Even if you’re not a policy student, for example, or you’re not studying social change as a direct part of your major,” he says, “you can still find ways to create change.”