Maryville College participates in competition to win $1 million
On Oct. 20, international student Suha Arbi introduced Maryville College students and faculty to the Hult Prize competition at a presentation in Bartlett 101. Known internationally as the world’s largest student competition, the Hult Prize gives students from colleges and universities around the world the opportunity to enter the business of social entrepreneurship and win $1 million to put towards starting their own company. Over 600 schools are represented in the competition, and this year MC hopes to be one of them.
Each year the Hult Prize announces a social problem that teams from participating schools must solve. This year the problem is “crowded urban spaces.” Teams will choose any city in the world and try to come up with a way to meet that city’s specific crowding needs. The teams that come up with the best idea in their region get to participate in a six-week workshop camp in Boston, Mass.
At the camp, participants will get to fine-tune their idea and even visit the city in which they wish to implement their innovative idea. Finalists in the competition will present their ideas to a panel of world famous business owners, politicians and political activists. This panel determines the winners that will get to put their plan into action.
Arbi, who has participated in the program once before, is MC’s campus director for the Hult Prize. She is working very hard to get MC involved in the competition because for her it was such a worthwhile experience.
“[After participating in the Hult Prize] You see the world as problems and solutions…and not just a means for profit,” Arbi said.
Arbi will be hosting a number of on-campus workshops throughout the rest of the semester to help guide teams through the process of coming up with their world changing idea.
Started in 2011, the Hult Prize has gathered some of the greatest minds across the world to improve the lives of over 50 million impoverished people. The Hult Prize team estimates that the number of people in the world living below $1 per day will double in the next 15 years, so there is a great need in the world for social entrepreneurs. The Hult Prize stresses that social entrepreneurship is not just charity, but a means of problem solving that can also result in the creation of new forms of industry and economic growth internationally.
To create a team for the competition students need to register teams of three to four members. One of those members can be a MC alumnus. Teams interested in competing should go to hultprizeat.com/maryville and fill out the registration form. The deadline to register is Fri., Nov. 7, and the MC campus winner will be decided by Dec. 14.
For more detailed information, contact Arbi at [email protected].