CONWAY, Ark. (September 26, 2012) - Hendrix freshman Andy McCall of Dallas, Texas, recently launched a project on the popular crowd-funding site Kickstarter.com to encourage more civil discourse in America.
On Kickstarter.com, backers can support projects that they believe in by donating start-up funds. Supporters receive incentive items, but are not repaid for their investment.
McCall's project features shirts and other items with a hand grenade and the slogan "Put the Pin Back In" (www.putthepinbackin.com) to illustrate that that people in politics and other areas have become too angry and closed minded to communicate effectively on important topics.
"The culture in this country has devolved to the point where uninformed negative commentary shares equal footing with reasoned discussion," McCall said. "Working through social media and traditional media sources, we want to create a platform that encourages polite and meaningful discussions and then advocates change."
McCall is a 2012 graduate of Jesuit College Preparatory School, where he won the school's Ad Astra award for community service, was a four-year letterman on Jesuit's varsity track and cross-country teams, led recruitment for five American Red Cross Blood Drives, and served as the vice president of the Community Service and Social Justice Leadership Corps. He is an Assistant Scout Master for his Boy Scout Troop and a Lay Eucharistic Minister at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education. For the fifth consecutive year, Hendrix was named one of the country's "Up and Coming" liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the 2012 edition of the Princeton Review as one of the country's best 377 colleges, the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Feel about Colleges, Forbes magazine's annual list of America's Top 650 Colleges, and the 2013 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.