Campus Competition

University of Notre Dame, led by Nolan Fletes (Class of 2026), is the winning team of the twelfth Up to Us Competition. The University of Notre Dame’s winning campaign raised awareness about the national debt and sustainable fiscal policy, culminating in a week of action that reached thousands of students, faculty, and visitors through both in-person and virtual events. The team held lively, themed events, including “Debt Dogs,” a cookout on Library Quad, and “Donuts and Debt,” a breakfast gathering, which brought together hundreds of students for conversation and idea-sharing about Congressional spending, taxes and how to create a sustainable federal budget. Additionally, a “Debt Dunk” event rewarded students who raised awareness about fiscal issues among their peers with an opportunity to dunk professors in a water tank. In addition to in-person events, the team also held two virtual forums to foster dialogue on U.S. fiscal policy. In just a few days, the team’s petition to Congressman Rudy Yakym and Senator Todd Young, titled “Notre Dame, Take Action for a Strong Fiscal Future,” garnered 920 pledge signatures. 

Stony Brook University, led by Anastasia Poulos (Class of 2024), is the winning team of the eleventh Up to Us Campus Competition. Their campaign included a range of events focusing on key fiscal and economic policy issues around midterm elections in November. The team organized classroom presentations, partnered with dozens of campus groups, and held events at which students submitted letters to their U.S. Senators - urging them to address the national debt. In addition, the Stony Brook team's social media campaign engaged and educated thousands of voters with important fiscal facts and creative themes such as "The Debt Ceiling Tuesday", "Wealth Wednesday", and "Fiscal Friday."

Read more about the Fall 2022 Winners here. 

The Baruch team, led by Nayancie Matthews, ’22, built a campaign to drive fiscal change and address the policy priorities of their fellow students and New York City. Teammates engaged city and local officials, including establishing a partnership with the New York City Comptroller to discuss the city’s budgeting and debt challenges. They generated over 5,000 interactions during the fall 2020 semester through targeted events, classroom presentations, campus partnerships and creative social media content. The team created an opportunity pipeline for two students to work with local city officials. Additionally, the Baruch Debate Team provided student participants with an opportunity to discuss policy issues and receive live fact checks and feedback from city officials.

Mesa Community College (MCC) in Mesa, Arizona is the winning team of the eighth annual Up to Us Campus Competition! The team from MCC, led by Shelby Lynch (MCC Class of 2020, Arizona State University Class of 2022), developed an innovative and multi-faceted campaign to raise awareness about the national debt and spark dialogue about building a sustainable economic future for all Americans. Throughout the fall 2019 semester, the team partnered with 22 campus groups and engaged more than half of their fellow students on campus through targeted events, awareness surveys, classroom presentations, campus partnerships, and creative social media activations. 

The winning team from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, partnered with dozens of OU student organizations to expand their reach and engaged hundreds of students on the national debt through voter registration drives, classroom presentations, media partnerships and creative events. The team integrated the idea of being “fiscally fit” into their conversations and presentations. The Oakland team created a boot camp that allowed students to test their physical fitness before taking a fiscal fitness test; held a pledge signature drive that used a giant beach ball as a visual representation of inflation; and led a national debt awareness parade through the Oakland campus. For the finale, the team hosted an Ultimate Fiscal Fitness Challenge featuring a gameshow-style competition between student leaders, allowing them to show off their new-found fiscal knowledge and explain why young people should care about the national debt.

The winning team from State University of New York (SUNY) at Old Westbury was led by junior Evan Rufrano. He led his team in a creative campaign that included creating a "Debt Boulevard" on campus - an interactive walkway of fiscal policy and national debt statistics. The team also hosted an interactive lecture series with distinguished professors and a debate with a panel of speakers across the political spectrum. One of Evan's takeaways from the experience was "This issue will impact our future, but the debate about the national debt too often omits the voices of young people. Through this Competition we were able to amplify the voice of our generation, calling on lawmakers to make responsible fiscal decisions today that will prepare us for a better tomorrow."

The winning team from Jackson State University was led by Terrence Dillon, a junior, originally from Chicago, Ill. Leveraging the popularity of beloved television game shows, the Jackson State University team hosted events such as “Debt Jeopardy,” “Wheel of Debt,” the “Debt is Right,” and other interactive game nights to explain the current fiscal situation to nearly 1,000 of their peers throughout the course of the competition. Read More

The William & Mary team members include Sruveera Sathi (team leader), Hannah Cannon, Aastha Uprety, Octavia Goodman and Merci Best. The team’s innovative campaign involved several events, including a “Great Debt-bate” that brought together four political groups on campus to discuss fiscal policy, a dance workshop to “dance the debt away,” and a forum featuring young innovators in the fields of healthcare, education, and defense. To promote their campaign, the team employed creative methods such as a “Money doesn’t grow on trees” art installation, in which they hung fake dollar bills with educational facts about the national debt on trees around campus. The team also traveled to the Virginia state capitol as part of a larger school effort to meet with the governor and state senators. Read More

The Stockton University team members include Angelo Bechara (team leader), Maryam Sarhan, Brad Ross, Louis Chevere and Victoria Muraoka. The team’s innovative campaign included a life-sized Monopoly game, a “dorm storm” in which team members brought fiscal awareness to students directly in their on-campus residences, appearances on local radio shows, and a visit to Capitol Hill to meet with a Congressman representing their state. Read More

The five-student team, lead by Fabiola Urgel Santa-Ana, from the University of Texas - Pan American (now The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley). “I told my team that we are so going to win this, so everyone will know about UTPA and where Edinburg is,” Urgel said. “That win gave me the sense that, if I did this, imagine what I can accomplish. It opens your eyes to more things, widens your potential and gives you strength, a sense that I can conquer the world, or at least to recognize all the possibilities in front of me.”

The U.Va. students – Lena Shi, Joshua Lansford, Alan Safferson, Ryan Singel and Amara Warren – created a dynamic and innovative campaign to earn them the first-ever winning spot. The team spent roughly 550 hours organizing 20 major events, including a rally at the Rotunda; a “HOOs Talking about the National Debt" discussion led by three faculty experts; screening a documentary film about the debt, “I.O.U.S.A.”; four flash seminars, each led by a U.Va. professor; a dinner on health care spending; presentations to classes and student groups; and a savings workshop, to name a few. 

The team brought U.S. Sen. Mark Warner to U.Va. on Feb. 11 to discuss the debt. After speaking with a crowd of more than 500 people, Warner, a Virginia Democrat who sits on the Senate Budget Committee, praised the team as an example of what college students can achieve, saying, “The U.Va. students got me energized, ready to go back to the Hill and keep fighting.”