Spring Break
Hopkins students get out on the runway for a good cause
Issue date: 12/6/07
- Page 1 of 3 next >
Do charity by working it on the catwalk? For a select group of Hopkins students in the Glass Pavilion Tuesday night, that was exactly what happened.
On Dec. 4, the Hopkins student group Vision XChange held the Hopkins Top Model competition to "stop the poppy economy" in Afghanistan by raising money and awareness for the cause.
Vision XChange has been working to draw attention to international issues for the last three years. Salmah Rizvi and Shruti Mathur co-founded the organization, through the Center for Social Concern, hoping to enhance public knowledge about issues often overlooked by the media and other charities.
"We try not to do anything that's too politically heavy, but at same time we want to do something about awareness," Rizvi said.
To accomplish this goal, Rizvi and Mathur decided to combine learning and fundraising with fun. Each event benefits a different cause, and the events aim to be engaging and exciting.
"There's a lack of events that are fun and still promote a cause," Rizvi said.
With Hopkins Top Model and other programs like it, Vision XChange can teach about an important issue while also entertaining an audience.
"Everybody doesn't read the paper, everybody doesn't look at the news, so [this event] gets people there, and then while they're there, they learn," said freshman Vision XChange volunteer JR Smith.
Hopkins Top Model was the first event Vision XChange organized upon its founding, and Tuesday's competition marked the third annual Top Model show. Since that first year, though, it has been a great success on campus.
"We started our organization, and within three weeks we put on Hopkins's first Top Model, which sold out," Rizvi said, adding, "We've been putting in more and more effort ... to make each program better."
University President William Brody was in attendance as a judge for the contest. He told the News-Letter he was proud of Vision XChange for their humanitarian efforts and inspired ideas.
On Dec. 4, the Hopkins student group Vision XChange held the Hopkins Top Model competition to "stop the poppy economy" in Afghanistan by raising money and awareness for the cause.
Vision XChange has been working to draw attention to international issues for the last three years. Salmah Rizvi and Shruti Mathur co-founded the organization, through the Center for Social Concern, hoping to enhance public knowledge about issues often overlooked by the media and other charities.
"We try not to do anything that's too politically heavy, but at same time we want to do something about awareness," Rizvi said.
To accomplish this goal, Rizvi and Mathur decided to combine learning and fundraising with fun. Each event benefits a different cause, and the events aim to be engaging and exciting.
"There's a lack of events that are fun and still promote a cause," Rizvi said.
With Hopkins Top Model and other programs like it, Vision XChange can teach about an important issue while also entertaining an audience.
"Everybody doesn't read the paper, everybody doesn't look at the news, so [this event] gets people there, and then while they're there, they learn," said freshman Vision XChange volunteer JR Smith.
Hopkins Top Model was the first event Vision XChange organized upon its founding, and Tuesday's competition marked the third annual Top Model show. Since that first year, though, it has been a great success on campus.
"We started our organization, and within three weeks we put on Hopkins's first Top Model, which sold out," Rizvi said, adding, "We've been putting in more and more effort ... to make each program better."
University President William Brody was in attendance as a judge for the contest. He told the News-Letter he was proud of Vision XChange for their humanitarian efforts and inspired ideas.
Be the first to comment on this story