WASHINGTON, DC — As student teams from colleges and universities are hard at work developing ways to tackle America’s fiscal challenges, the national campus-based competition Up to Us announces its 2014 panel of judges. The judges, respected and influential leaders from government, policy, media, and issue advocacy, will review the results of the individual campaigns and select the winning student team at the upcoming CGI University (CGI U) meeting. The panel of judges includes:

• Chelsea Clinton: Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation
• Sen. Kent Conrad: former United States Senator and former Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee
• Betty Liu: journalist and anchor of Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop”
• Sen. Olympia Snowe: former United States Senator, Senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center
• George Stephanopoulos: anchor of ABC‘s “This Week” and “Good Morning America”

“We are thrilled to have this prominent all-star panel of judges to evaluate the hard work being done by Up to Us teams to raise fiscal awareness on college campuses across the country,” said Michael A. Peterson, President and COO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. “These students are getting involved because they understand that America’s long-term debt outlook poses a real threat to their collective economic future, and their voice is essential to solving it. Having such accomplished leaders serve as judges for our competition underscores the importance of hearing from every generation as we address fiscal challenges.”

The 2014 competition is now underway, as student teams develop innovative and creative ways to bring attention to the nation’s rising debt and motivate action in Washington. Activities have already included discussions with federal, state and local legislators, developing and teaching curricula on fiscal responsibility in local high schools, and awareness-building activities on campus. In addition, many of the teams have created original videos, which can be viewed here.

The 23 universities represented by the student teams selected for the 2014 competition are:

• Bellarmine University
• Belmont University
• California State University, Fullerton
• Duke University
• George Washington University
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Luther College
• Miami University
• New York University
• Northwestern University
• Oklahoma State University
• Pace University
• Rice University
• The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
• Tufts University
• University of California, Irvine
• University of Central Florida
• University of Michigan
• University of New Mexico
• University of Tennessee
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Texas-Pan American
• West Virginia Wesleyan College

To stay up to date on the students’ progress and their campaigns, visit: www.itsuptous.org.

About Up to Us
Up to Us, a nationwide campus competition sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative University and Net Impact, provides an opportunity for students to build a movement to raise awareness and engagement on America’s long-term fiscal and economic challenges. Twenty-three student teams selected from across the country compete to design and run thought-provoking, fun and impactful campaigns around the effects of rising debt on economic opportunity and America’s future.