According to Carl Schramm, CEO and president of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the solution to today’s troubled economy is students.
“You are being baptized by today’s troublesome times,” Schramm said during his speech. “You are going to change the society by inventing something and starting a business.”
Schramm spoke last Friday at the New Student Convocation, which was attended by incoming freshman, their families and other members of UM’s community.
“We have to invent a new economy because one thing separates us from the rest of the world – we want growth,” Schramm said.
The Kauffman Foundation is a non-profit association that promotes entrepreneurship and innovative thinking. They provided the initial grant for The Launch Pad and introduced the university to the Blackstone Foundation, which allowed The Launch Pad to become a model for a national job creation initiative.
“[UM] is the launch pad of The Launch Pad movement across America,” Schramm said. “We say make a job, don’t take a job.”
He emphasized economic growth for the sake of “human welfare.”
“Our duty as citizens is to make sure that we have wealth to ensure that human welfare is constantly expanded,” he said.
Though his speech was aimed at freshmen, much of it was applicable to the entire student body.
“You are in charge,” he said. “You can’t look to teachers, the government or big corporations for the map to your life. This is on your shoulders.”