Cornell student honored as 2018 Newman Civic Fellow

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 Cornell College’s own Kaylee Crouse ’19.

The Newman Civic Fellowship, named for Campus Compact co-founder Frank Newman, is a one-year experience emphasizing personal, professional, and civic growth.

Cornell College President Jonathan Brand nominated Crouse saying, “Kaylee is a strong civic leader who engages herself and others in community engagement. To act on her passion for environmental issues, Kaylee has traveled to Costa Rica with a course for community-based research on the local sea turtle population and has spent two summers interning at the Blank Park Zoo. Kaylee does not believe community engagement is a solo effort, and, as a result, works to engage others. She led three Cornell Alternative Break trips, coordinates an elementary school mentor program, and engaged first-year students in her role as a Peer Advocate for Cornell College’s New Student Orientation. Kaylee has a bright personality that engages everyone she meets and inspires them to find their passion and pursue it, as she has done through all of her involvement at Cornell College and beyond.”

Crouse says she wants to create change after seeing so much inequality, despair, and struggle in the world.

“My goal is to spread happiness throughout the world, whether that be providing a safe house for a family in need, inspiring people to love and care for all wildlife, or ensuring there will be a future where all animals can flourish and thrive,” she said. “I am so excited to spread more happiness throughout the world through the opportunities this fellowship provides.”

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 students 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.”

The Newman Civic Fellowship is supported by the KPMG Foundation and Newman’s Own Foundation.