By ERIN DAVIS
University Relations Specialist
Campus Compact, a Boston-based non-profit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education, has announced the 268 students who will make up the organization’s 2018 cohort of Newman Civic Fellows, including Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s own Riley Pearce.
Pearce, a senior political science major, from Enid is an active member of the university’s Honors Program, the Psychology Club and the Civic Fellowship Program. She’s been inducted into the Red & Black Scroll Honor Society and the Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society. In May, she will complete her second internship at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
“Riley is a public servant at heart,” Dr. Janet Cunningham, university president, said. “Her many volunteer activities include Feed the Children, Back-A-Youth, Food for Thought and March of Dimes. She is an advocate for legislation involving the use of illegal substances by pregnant women and the effects on the child born with said substance in his/her system. She has already considered the possibility of seeking public office.”
The Newman Civic Fellowship, named for Campus Compact co-founder Frank Newman, is a one-year experience emphasizing personal, professional and civic growth. 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 fellows with access to apply for exclusive scholarship and post-graduate opportunities.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate and engage with such an extraordinary group of students,” said Campus Compact president Andrew Seligsohn. “The stories of this year’s Newman Civic Fellows make clear that they are bringing people together in their communities to solve pressing problems. That is what Campus Compact is about, and it’s what our country and our world desperately need.”