The Clause

PHOTO Mike Sevilla Professor Dan Kipley and student president Amanda Crandall interact with class discussing upcoming projects.

How do we bring real change to our world? To our community? How could we
possibly make a difference? What can we even do? How can business and
non-profits work towards the same goals?

It’s these questions and more that drive those involved in Students in
Free Enterprise (SIFE) here at APU to develop creative solutions to
address real problems.

“There are a lot of problems in the world and often people think they’re
incapable of making a change,” senior business administration major
C.J. Eckman. “We want to show that anyone can make a difference,
regardless of your age, financial situation or strengths, everyone can
find a way to bring about change.”

A year ago Eckman, along with senior international business major
Leighton Cusack and several other students, set out to do just that
forming a non-profit called End Of It, as part of their SIFE internship
class.

“The goal of End Of It is to show pragmatic ways to make a difference,”
said Cusack. “We are trying to create an organization that documents
cool and successful fundraisers, and then we do some of them. We want to
help change the norm of fundraisers.”

Last year, End Of It worked to raise money to send with APU’s Ghana
missions teams so they could buy mosquito nets to hand out throughout
their trip in an effort to combat malaria. This year, however, the team
is setting their sights on an even greater challenge: the world record
for the largest can drive.

“Our goal with the bringyourcans.com is to raise 15,000 cans this year
to benefit local food banks,” Cusack said. “The can drive is all about
dreaming big, trying to achieve something bigger than ourselves and even
if we fail, still doing something that helps.”

According to Eckman, the task is a daunting one. The current world
record holder is Disneyland and the last group of students that made an
attempt only reached 6,000 cans.

“The best part of the can drive is we can’t do it on our own,” Cusack
said. “We need help from everyone if we really are going to achieve this
goal, even if it has never been done before.”

The End Of It project and the can drive are just two of the many
projects under the SIFE program at APU. According to sife.org, SIFE is
an international non-profit that encourages students to use business
principles to help impact and improve their community and the world.
Around 48,000 students in 1,500 different teams in 39 different
countries work each year on a host of projects. Each team then competes
in regional, national, and international competitions, in which judges
examine and evaluate the impact their projects made.

According to Cusack, most students at APU participate in SIFE through
the business internship class, in which they receive three units and 15
Ministry and Service credits, though some choose to participate outside
of the class and non-business majors can take the class as well.

Students meet weekly with advisor Dan Kipley, an assistant professor in
the School of Business and Management, who helps guide the students in
their projects and encourages them to pursue their passions.

One of those students was junior economic and international business major Kristin Gilbert.

“Ever since Alpha training last year, God has really put sex trafficking
on my heart,” Gilbert said. “Seeing those massage parlors and brothels
and watching the police turning a blind eye really impacted my
perspective on the issue.”
Now Gilbert and other SIFE students are working to bring attention to the growing trade of domestic sex trafficking.

“A lot of people have heard about this trafficking overseas, but what
they don’t know is that Irvine, San Francisco, and Toledo are centers
for it too,” Gilbert said. “This is our own back yard. It happens here.
We need to stop it.”

According to Gilbert, the team is now working to help raise awareness of
this issue both on campus and in the local community. Working with a
non-profit called Captive Daughters, the group is creating a video to
demonstrate the reality of sex trafficking in America. Gilbert is also
working to have an exhibition on the issue next semester here on campus,
as well as several other events to raise awareness and funds to help
victims.

Although their impact may be great or small, these SIFE students are determined to leave APU a changed place.

“We’re not special people,” Eckman said. “We’re just a bunch of normal
guys who think we can make a big impact in LA and around the world. Once
people see we can do it, maybe they will do it too.