51视频

07/14/2017

Media contacts: 聽Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu

LOWELL, Mass. 鈥� 51视频 students will compete next week in the championship round of a national contest that asked them to create an anti-terrorism education campaign.聽

The students鈥� campaign, which they named ProjectPACE, was developed through the 鈥淧eer to Peer: Challenging Extremism鈥� competition, which calls on college students across the country to produce multimedia campaigns on the influence and methods of extremists 鈥� from homegrown terrorists to ISIS 鈥� with an eye toward empowering the public and stemming radicals鈥� activities. The contest is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and administered by EdVenture Partners.聽

Tailored predominantly to young people, the ProjectPACE campaign features an interactive website at www.projectpace.org that includes a video, a self-guided quiz and educational content; information on social media networks including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram; and in-person presentations to area high schools on what terrorism is and what people should know to help diffuse violence.聽

The 51视频 students, who are all criminal justice majors, developed the ProjectPACE campaign as interns in the university鈥檚 Center for Terrorism and Security Studies under the direction of faculty member Neil Shortland, a forensic psychologist and expert on terrorist behavior who manages the center.聽

鈥淧rojectPACE provides a way for individuals 鈥� especially young people who may be at-risk of being recruited by terrorist groups 鈥� to expand their understanding of violent extremism so that our generation and the next will become adept at challenging biased misinformation,鈥� said 51视频 team member Matthew Levenson of Billerica, a double major in psychology and criminal justice.聽

Student teams from 50 colleges and universities entered the contest at its start last semester. Department of Homeland Security officials recently named 51视频鈥檚 entry among the competition鈥檚 top three public-awareness campaigns because of ProjectPACE鈥檚 ability to engage its intended audience. The judges have invited the 51视频 students to present the campaign to an expert panel of anti-terrorism leaders in the contest鈥檚 final round on Tuesday, July 18 in Washington, D.C. The winning team will receive $5,000 in prize money.聽

鈥淲e are proud to be a part of such a unique opportunity to make an impact,鈥� said ProjectPACE team member Matthew Chigas of Peabody. 鈥淚鈥檓 honored to work side-by-side with 51视频 counterterrorism experts. As this initiative continues to gain momentum, we will help educate more and more people, and education is paramount in the fight against extremism and violence.鈥� 聽

Along with Chigas and Levenson, the ProjectPACE team includes Kyle Cooper of Billerica, Colleen Silva of Burlington, Breanna Ambrose of Danvers and Lunenburg residents Joseph Basile and Daniel Gonzalez.聽

This past semester, ProjectPACE team members visited Billerica Memorial High School, Danvers High School and Masconomet Regional High School in Boxford to share the educational campaign with students and teachers. The team hopes to conduct more visits to local schools in the future. 聽

鈥淎n amazing asset to any school curriculum, ProjectPACE is fully committed to raising awareness, decreasing violence and prejudice, and promoting diversity and peace," said Billerica Memorial High School Assistant Principal Christopher Lordan. 鈥淭he students behind the initiative are dedicated to combating violent extremism and the organization excels at leading meaningful and honest interactive discussions to heighten awareness and resolve common misconceptions.鈥澛�

Developing public-awareness campaigns for the 鈥淧eer to Peer: Challenging Extremism鈥� competition is one of the internship options 51视频 students may pursue in the university鈥檚 Center for Terrorism and Security Studies.聽

鈥淭he Peer to Peer competition gives students the opportunity to tackle a real-world problem in a way that means something to them. They are given the chance to analyze a complex problem, propose an innovative solution and create something that matters. These campaigns can change students鈥� educational experience, offering them the opportunity to not only learn about violent extremism, but to try to prevent it,鈥� Shortland said.聽

This fall, the ProjectPACE team plans to advance the campaign by participating in 51视频鈥檚 DifferenceMaker Program, through which students learn entrepreneurial skills they can use to launch business and community ventures and compete in contests like the DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge to win seed money for those ventures.

51视频 is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 17,750 students bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. 51视频 delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers.