2 minute read
Golden Knights Rise: Innovation Challenge
Erin Draper ’03, MBA’14 wanted to help Clarkson students. In a semester when student activities and opportunities for community bonding have been in low supply, boosting the spirits of the student body seemed vital.
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Delivering 4,000 pizzas or putting together 4,000 care packages was not feasible. Instead, the managing director of Clarkson Ignite turned to the mission of her program to churn the creative juices of socially distanced Golden Knights.
“I got thinking about what we do from an Ignite standpoint around innovation — just trying to engage them mentally and engage them with their academic expertise and trying to be productive and fun, but also educational,” says Draper. “So we issued a challenge.”
Their goal was simple: offer students a loosely academic and fun creative challenge with the potential to win attractive prizes.
For seven days, a new student challenge activity was issued, to be completed using only items found in the students’ living quarters or that could be ordered and delivered to campus safely. Students submitted a video showing their version of the completed challenge, which was then judged by Clarkson faculty and staff.
The Ignite team was hopeful their challenge would engage a couple dozen students. When the videos began rolling in, the response shattered any conceivable goal.
“On Monday after we launched the first one, we all sat there and just hit refresh, refresh. Then we got to watch
DAY 1
DAY 2 DAY 4 DAY 3
all of these videos come in,” says Draper. “This significantly exceeded our expectations. I remember thinking that if we got 10 or 15 submissions every day, that would be great.”
“We had 195 on the first day,” adds Ignite Fellow Matt Hawthorne ’19, MS’21. “We were just shy of 600 responses across all seven days.”
The intent of Clarkson Ignite is to foster an environment where creativity and innovation can thrive. While Draper won’t take credit for teaching students how to be innovative, Clarkson Ignite certainly succeeded in revealing creative potential.
“I think what’s awesome about Clarkson, and what we do in Ignite pretty well, is adapting quickly. We try to take the temperature of what’s going on, try to understand what students’ needs are and be proactive about it,” says Draper. “Seeing the students take on this challenge just made me proud to be part of this community.”
View the videos at clarkson.edu/innovation-challenge
DAY 5 DAY 7
DAY 6 GRAND PRIZE
QUARANTINE CHALLENGES
Using only items on hand
Day 1: Build the CU Letters Day 2: Window Decoration Day 3: Build a Rube Goldberg
Machine
Day 4: Build a Fort Day 5: Build Quarantine Workout
Gear or Routine
Day 6: Quarantine Food Creations Day 7: Build a Golden Knight
Grand Prize: Golden Knights Rise
Share how you rose during this unprecedented time. How did you stay positive and productive?
