Williams honored as Newman Civic Fellow

Campus Compact, a Boston-based non-profit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education, has announced the students who will make up the organization’s 2021–22 cohort of Newman Civic Fellows. 

Cornell’s own Lauren Williams will join 212 students from 39 states, Washington, D.C., and Mexico to form the 2021 cohort.

The Newman Civic Fellowship is a year-long program for students from Campus Compact member institutions. The students selected for the fellowship are leaders on their campuses who demonstrate a commitment to finding solutions for challenges facing communities locally, nationally, and internationally.

Cornell College President Jonathan Brand nominated Williams saying, “Lauren Williams is a student leader who focuses on creating space for students of color in predominantly white spaces, including college campuses. She has dedicated her time to understanding and changing policy, advocating for change in programming and available opportunities, and has served as a role model for her peers … She is an asset to campus and pushes her classmates to understand different perspectives and even reconsider their views.”

Williams serves as a resident assistant, Information Desk manager, intern in the Office of Intercultural Life, and Student Senate president. She is also a member of a number of college committees. 

Williams, a sociology and politics double major, says she is focused on providing space for other students of color within majority-white spaces. 

“The college I attend is a predominantly white school, which is evident based on their programming, and focus, and so my goal has been to create more spaces within the already existing areas for more students of color. This goal is in an effort to create better conversations, and foster growth; adding diversity to these spaces, and conversations allow for growth within the community and new ideas being shared.”

Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides Fellows with a variety of learning and networking opportunities that emphasize personal, professional, and civic growth. Each year, fellows participate in numerous virtual training and networking opportunities to help them develop the skills and connections they need to create large-scale positive change. The cornerstone of the fellowship is the Annual Convening of Fellows, which offers intensive skill-building and networking over the course of two days. The fellowship also provides fellows with pathways to apply for exclusive scholarship and post-graduate opportunities.

“We are proud to recognize these extraordinary student leaders and thrilled to engage with them,” said Campus Compact President Andrew Seligsohn. “The experience of the last year has driven home to all of us that we need open-minded, innovative, public-spirited thinkers, and doers. That is what Campus Compact is about, and the stories of our Newman Civic Fellows demonstrate it’s who they are.”