Over the last few months, a group of students enrolled in an Arts, Culture and Entertainment Management (ACE Management) course at the University of Tulsa decided to take one of their projects and apply the tools learned in class to make it a reality. Five students enrolled in the Social Entrepreneurship course were assigned with the task to create a social entrepreneurship venture that addresses some issues in society alongside researching the organization of their choosing and learning the leadership/collaboration skills needed to successfully run a program. The majors represented by the five students in the project are accounting, chemical engineering, computer information systems, film and finance.
The Social Entrepreneurship course (ACEM 2103) is taught by ACE Management professor Samuel Krall and was designed for students of any major to develop leadership and entrepreneur/business skills that can be used in any career and create a positive impact on society. This course goes into depth about business plan development, need assessments, crowdfunding campaigns and new venture pitches. By the end of the semester, students will have had real-world experience in preparing projects and communicating pitches with local organizations.
The Little Light House is a Christian-based school local to Tulsa that serves children with special needs. The organization has been open since 1972, and since then, they have opened another location in Mississippi. The Social Entrepreneurship group collaborated with The Little Light House at the beginning of the project and discovered the need that the organization had for certain sanitization items. The team then worked together to brainstorm ideas on how they could address the present needs of The Little Light house and work for the betterment of the community. Together, the group’s idea of starting the “Project to Aid Little Light House” (PAL) sparked and they began their journey to help their local community by setting up donation boxes around TU’s campus.
For three days, the group will set up donation boxes in various areas that anyone can place their donations in. These donations will go straight to The Little Light House and will help the staff, teachers and students ensure a clean and safe environment for learning and progress-making. Donations of hand sanitizer, paper towels and tissues will be accepted, and there will be a few different locations where people can drop off their donation. One donation spot will be inside The Wesley Foundation building, located near Hardesty Hall, and the other will be at The Newman Catholic Center located on South Florence Place near the College of Law building.
The donation boxes will be set up at their designated spots starting Nov. 18 and will be available for donation until Nov. 20. For more information on donating to the project, please contact the team at acem2103project@gmail.com, and for inquiries about the Social Entrepreneur course, contact Professor Samuel Krall at samuel.krall@utulsa.edu.
