Pan American Summit

CLACS hosts annual Pan American Summit (PAS), an inter-collegiate all-day event that challenges students to consider and debate ways of resolving the most pressing issues affecting nations in the Americas. Through the experience, students learn about social movements, political ideologies, economic theories, geographic impacts, environmental challenges, and issues of socioeconomic class and ethnic / racial identities in American States. The objective of the summit is to bring people together with the common goal to improve our hemisphere’s development in the twenty-first century. In the past, the inter-collegiate event included students from Metro Community College Kansas City, Kansas City Kansas Community College, and Donnelly College.

Prior to the Summit, faculty advisors at each institution guided students to research an assigned country and its politics, economics, environment, and history within the regional and hemispheric context. Students were asked to draft potential approaches to resolve issues affecting that country. At the Summit, the participating institutions are joined by KU faculty and students to form inter-collegiate national delegations, or working groups, each tasked to prepare and present a final resolution. Each resolution is considered intensely, and at times challenged by well-researched questions from other delegations and a committee of judges.

CLACS could not be more proud of the participating students who bring their critical knowledge of history, economics, politics, geography, civics, education, and urban planning! Now, perhaps more than ever in recent history, is the time for people to come together to tackle the problems, both big and small, that we face as nations, societies, communities, and families. PAS demonstrated that we have bright future ahead with help from the next generation.