Public speaking students award $25,000 to environmental group

From left to right: Oreitta Caula, Joanna Suarez, Chloe Castro, Alejandro Cecire and Linda Elvir donated $25,000 to the non-profit group, IDEAS for Us. Also, not pictured above is Rebecca Spiegel, who contributed to the proposal but was absent because she was ill.

Students in an advanced public speaking course at FIU recently had the opportunity to award $25,000 to a non-profit of their choosing.

Retired financial executive and current FIU student Herb Gruber underwrote the project, along with his partner, Donna Lee Steffens, an FIU graduate.

“His goal was to acquaint students with the work of non-profits and stimulate interest in possible work in the non-profit sector as well as to introduce students to philanthropy and the responsibility that comes with it,’’ said Joann Brown, chairman of the Communication Arts Department at the College of Architecture + the Arts (CARTA.)

“He was following an existing model for innovative real-world teaching and learning that has been implemented by Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford,’’ Brown added.

Brown created a public speaking course focused on philanthropy and recruited recently hired faculty member Elena Nuciforo to teach it.

Students in the class were divided into five groups and each chose a non-profit organization to research and present to their classmates. They were instructed to look into the organization’s mission, goals and financial records.

Each team pitched their organization to the class, along with students from the FIU TEDx Student Club, students from the Lambda Pi Eta Communication Arts chapter of the National Communication Association Honor Society and representatives from the non-profit organization.

The winning organization – IDEAS for Us – is a student-run non-profit based in Orlando that focuses on sustainability and environmental change.

One of the group’s current projects is to transform Miami’s Camillus House into an environmentally friendly building with solar panel installations.

Florida Power & Light, which is consulting on the project, estimates it will save Camillus House more than $350,000 in energy costs over the next 10 years.

The winning team – Rebecca Spiegel, Chloe Castro, Joanna Suarez, Alejandro Cerice, Linda Elvir and Orietta Caula – agreed the course seemed intimidating at first – but said it turned out to be an eye-opening experience.

“I am beyond excited with all that we have been able to do as an institution, a class, a team and students,” said Linda Elvir. “This experience has made me realize my potential in philanthropy and communication arts. I am nothing but grateful having been given this amazing opportunity to learn about philanthropic giving and bring light to such a world-renowned organization such as IDEAS.”

Alejandro Cerice, another group member, said, “Being able to help hundreds of people is spectacular.”

Meanwhile, during the research phase of the course, another student, Isle Jeres, received a different kind of award.

As she researched her group’s organization – Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation – and met with the chief operating and finance officer of the group, she was offered a paid summer internship, a position that had 250 potential candidates. She is also working to set up an FIU student drive to register potential bone marrow donors.

“This course truly represents the best efforts of FIU students, faculty, staff and the community and illustrates how their combined efforts can make things happen in exciting ways,’’ said Brown.

For more information about this course or any others within the Communication Arts Department, visit www.carta.fiu.edu/comm-arts/.

– Alexandra Rodriguez-Carhartt