Let’s make sure everyone is on the same page by going over some terms for this program.

• XRP Ledger (XRPL): The XRP Ledger is a decentralized, public blockchain led by a global developer community. It’s fast, energy-efficient, and reliable.
• Ripple: Ripple is one company that builds on the XRP ledger with a focus on banking transactions and the speed at which they move.
• XRPL Foundation: The XRP Ledger Foundation, an independent and non-profit entity, has a mission to accelerate the development and adoption of the decentralized XRP Ledger.
• University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI): Ripple is collaborating with leading universities around the world to support and accelerate academic research, technical development and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital payments.
• 3 E’s: The three E’s are the purpose of this program: to educate, excite, and empower your campus community. We encourage you to find creative ways to achieve them.
• Unique Node List (UNL): UNLs are the lists of validators a given participant believes will not conspire to defraud them. Each server operator can choose their own UNL, usually based on a default set provided by a trusted publisher. (A default set from a publisher is sometimes called a default UNL, or dUNL.)
• XRP Ledger Community: The community is situated across the globe and virtually across Discord, Meetup, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and more! There are likely community members in your local area. Through this program, you will be integrated into the community.
• Meetup: A meetup is an event with the community to network and learn from each other. It can either be formal and structured with speakers or presentations or simply a networking session with food and beverages.
• Consensus Protocol: XRPL uses a consensus protocol, in which designated servers called validators come to an agreement on the order and outcome of XRP transactions every 3-5 seconds. All servers in the network process each transaction according to the same rules, and any transaction that follows the protocol is confirmed right away. All transactions are public, with strong cryptography to guarantee the integrity of the system.