Student Impact Grant Recipients


Student Impact Grants help Hawkeyes experience, learn, and discover important lessons outside the classroom. Past recipients show you cannot always anticipate when a unique idea is going to arise—or when it will inspire action or creation. Support from the Iowa Impact Fund helps in the pursuit of new and exciting ventures. Read the stories of two Student Impact Grant recipients.

For a More Accepting Community

An image from Nachte Raho, a celebration partially funded by an Iowa Student Impact Grant.

Ridhi Jani

In an effort to celebrate and share Indian culture with the University of Iowa community, the Indian Student Alliance (ISA) hosts a series of charitable, cultural, educational, and social events each year. "Spreading diversity and cultural awareness is extremely important to us," says Ridhi Jani, president of the Indian Student Alliance.

The group’s yearly showcase event, Nachte Raho, is one of the largest Bollywood fusion dance competitions in the Midwest. Eight of the best university dance teams from around the nation come to Iowa and perform. The Student Impact Grant helped pay for a top-notch venue, Hancher Auditorium, and secure judges for the competition.

For a Better Quality of Life

An image of Sandra Castillo, a recipient of an Iowa Student Impact Grant.

Sandra Castillo

Tackling real-life problems and gaining hands-on experiences are important for future engineers, including Sandra Castillo. Through her work with the University of Iowa chapter of Continental Crossing—which helps communities in developing countries construct footbridges— Castillo spent five weeks in Nicaragua repairing two suspended bridges.

Thanks to the Student Impact Grant, Castillo was able to pay for lodging, meals, medical and health expenses, and equipment for the trip. "Your support made my experience accessible and affordable," says Castillo. "Your generosity is helping change the world and making a difference in the lives of so many students."

Learn how to apply for the Student Impact Grants.

If you are interested in helping provide students with more opportunities like these, please support the Iowa Impact Fund.

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A University Archives recording preserves the 1966 visit by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a key figure from the Beat movement. PHOTO courtesy of City Lights Bookstore Ferlinghetti at age 40, 1959 Editor's note: In Old Gold, University archivist David McCartney looks back at the UI's history and tradition through materials housed in University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries. For this month's column, Old Gold was tempted to invoke the era of the Beat Generation?by writing in free verse, complete with finger snaps. He then thought?better of it, deciding to leave poetry to the poets. Nonetheless, Old Gold observes and reports, and this installment recognizes a milestone for one of the Beat movement's leading figures in literature. Lawrence Ferlinghetti?poet, critic, political activist, and co-founder of City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco?recently celebrated his 100th birthday. In 1957 Ferlinghetti was tried on obscenity charges for publishing Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl," a critique of modern-day conformity and censorship. Ultimately, the court ruled that "Howl" was not obscene, exonerating Ferlinghetti and his bookstore. Legal scholars hailed the ruling as a landmark victory in defense of the First Amendment. Thanks to the trial?and a growing counterculture movement during the 1960s?Ferlinghetti's notoriety made him a high-demand speaker at colleges and universities across the country, including the University of Iowa. On the night of Oct. 24, 1966, he spoke to a capacity audience in Macbride Auditorium, his visit sponsored by Students for a Democratic Society and the Radical Arts Project. According to the Daily Iowan the next day, he "conducted a tour of the Coney Island of his mind" during his talk, a reference to his well-known collection of poems of the same name published in 1958. Writing for the Daily Iowan, Tom Fensch described Ferlinghetti's poetry as "swirl[ing] before the mind's eye like a surrealistic parade in review. His poems resemble those of Allen Ginsberg, another apostle of the avant-garde, and also e.e. cummings, who wrote free-form, unpunctuated verse. Ferlinghetti is aware of the sounds around him; his poems echo the sounds of the street and the pace of life. His poetry is meant to be read aloud." Fortunately for posterity, public radio station WSUI recorded that evening's event, and the audio tape eventually made its way to the University Archives. Audio preservationists recently digitally reformatted the recording so that his poetry as delivered on campus can again be heard and appreciated, more than 50 years later. Go on an hour-long tour of the Coney Island of the mind, where he begins with an impersonation of President Lyndon Johnson (note that the date in the link refers to the date of WSUI's broadcast, Dec. 7, 1966): The event is also featured on the University Archives' online exhibit, "Uptight and Laid-back: Iowa City in the 1960s." Upon further reflection, Old Gold should correct himself. "Leaving poetry to the poets" is not what Ferlinghetti endorses. Not at all. Indeed, he writes of poetry as insurgent art. In his work of that same name, he invites us all to participate. For that matter, he admonishes us to do so: "The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it." Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames] By Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Courtesy of the Academy of American Poets I am signaling you through the flames. The North Pole is not where it used to be. Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest. Civilization self-destructs. Nemesis is knocking at the door. What are poets for, in such an age? What is the use of Poetry? The State of the work calls out for poetry to save it. If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenges of apocalyptic times, even if this meaning sounds apocalyptic. You are Whitman, you are Poe, you are Mark Twain, you are Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay, you are Neruda and Mayakovsky and Pasolini, you are and American or a non-American, you can conquest the conquerors with words...

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