Minerva Fellow couture
Megan Clark
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: News
Most Union students and faculty are familiar with the Minerva Fellowship, a program that offers recent Union graduates the opportunity to travel to underdeveloped countries for ten months and implement social entrepreneurship skills to combat the social problems of the underdeveloped country.
What many students are unaware of is that while the Minerva Fellows are presently in their respective countries, current students on campus are working on a project with economics professor Hal Fried entitled "The Fairest Trade: Union College Minerva Fellows Clothing and Craft Boutique on Jay Street."
The endeavor began when a group of students voluntarily became involved in the independent study project with the objective of opening a not-for-profit retail store in Schenectady featuring clothing and crafts from the various Minerva Fellow locations.
The clothing and crafts, which will soon be for sale at the Jay Street store, will be obtained from local artisans at fair trade prices.
Fried describes the project as "an experience and a destination. It would connect the college to downtown Schenectady as students work in the store and hang out (study) in the coffee shop with free wi-fi. The store would host events around the mission such as the music of Cambodia [or] the food of Uganda."
While eight Minerva Fellows are currently in Cambodia, South Africa, Uganda, China, and Uruguay, the numerous students partaking in the independent study project here at Union are currently working hard to ensure the store's success.
For Sarah Rios '11, the store's success is important, but the overall mission described by Fried seems to be the main objective for the students involved.
"We're currently trying to cover all the groundwork so that we're all on the same page when it comes time to actually rent a location and put a store together," she said. "I think the student-run store will attract a lot of different customers."
Rios added, "I really hope that once the store opens, other Union students will be inspired by our mission-to provide income for the poor artisans for the Minerva Fellow locations, to educate others about the poverty that these people live in, to raise money for the Minerva fellows program, and to strengthen relations between Union College and Schenectady."
What many students are unaware of is that while the Minerva Fellows are presently in their respective countries, current students on campus are working on a project with economics professor Hal Fried entitled "The Fairest Trade: Union College Minerva Fellows Clothing and Craft Boutique on Jay Street."
The endeavor began when a group of students voluntarily became involved in the independent study project with the objective of opening a not-for-profit retail store in Schenectady featuring clothing and crafts from the various Minerva Fellow locations.
The clothing and crafts, which will soon be for sale at the Jay Street store, will be obtained from local artisans at fair trade prices.
Fried describes the project as "an experience and a destination. It would connect the college to downtown Schenectady as students work in the store and hang out (study) in the coffee shop with free wi-fi. The store would host events around the mission such as the music of Cambodia [or] the food of Uganda."
While eight Minerva Fellows are currently in Cambodia, South Africa, Uganda, China, and Uruguay, the numerous students partaking in the independent study project here at Union are currently working hard to ensure the store's success.
For Sarah Rios '11, the store's success is important, but the overall mission described by Fried seems to be the main objective for the students involved.
"We're currently trying to cover all the groundwork so that we're all on the same page when it comes time to actually rent a location and put a store together," she said. "I think the student-run store will attract a lot of different customers."
Rios added, "I really hope that once the store opens, other Union students will be inspired by our mission-to provide income for the poor artisans for the Minerva Fellow locations, to educate others about the poverty that these people live in, to raise money for the Minerva fellows program, and to strengthen relations between Union College and Schenectady."
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