Newswise — Campus Compact, a Boston-based non-profit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education, has announced the 262 students who will make up the organization’s 2019–20 cohort of Newman Civic Fellows, including Cornell College’s own Zoe Randall ’20.
The Newman Civic Fellowship, named for Campus Compact co-founder Frank Newman, is a one-year experience emphasizing personal, professional, and civic growth for students who have demonstrated a capacity for leadership and an investment in solving public problems.
Cornell College President Jonathan Brand nominated Randall saying, “Zoe Randall, a third-year student at Cornell College, is dedicated to working with children and youth development programs to help alleviate the cycle of poverty that exists. During her Cornell career, Zoe has volunteered on and off-campus mentoring and providing programming for children. She works to engage children in soft skill development that will help pave a path for their own future. Through her first-hand contact, Zoe has seen the systemic issues related to education and development and is working toward reducing some of those impacts. She understands the root causes of social issues and asks the ‘why’ questions to uncover new mechanisms for social change.”
Learning how to effectively create social change is exactly why Randall is excited about this new opportunity as a Newman Civic Fellow. The biochemistry and molecular biology major is especially interested in helping children in underprivileged communities, which is an interest that started when she held an internship at Four Oaks, an eastern Iowa organization that is committed to comprehensively helping children and families through their struggles. During her internship, she began volunteering at a Four Oaks after-school program.
“I have begun working with the staff to create programming that helps teach the kids soft-skills such as work ethic, listening and communication, and teamwork,” Randall said in her personal statement to Campus Compact. “By creating effective programming that could be transferable to other youth groups at similar communities we can help kids learn the skills that they need to be successful and break out of the poverty cycle.”
Randall also enjoys volunteering as a lunch buddy on campus and at a local hospital.
Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides a variety of learning and networking opportunities, including a national conference of Newman Civic Fellows in partnership with the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. The fellowship also provides access to apply for exclusive scholarship and post-graduate opportunities.
The Newman Civic Fellowship is supported by the KPMG Foundation and Newman’s Own Foundation.
About Cornell College:
Cornell College, a selective liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, offers a distinctive One Course At A Time curriculum, immersing students in a single academic subject during each 18-day block. With a student body from 47 states and 19 foreign countries, and renowned faculty, speakers, and entertainers, Cornell offers the world from its hilltop campus.
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