CONWAY, Ark. (March 9, 2022) – Maya Kreczmer ’23, a politics
and international relations major at Hendrix College, is one of 173 student
civic leaders to be named a 2022-2023
Newman Civic Fellow.
The Ne
wman Civic Fellowship recognizes students who stand out
for their commitment to creating positive change in communities locally and
around the world. Kreczmer will join students from 38 states, Washington D.C.,
and Mexico to form the 2022-2023 cohort.
“Maya believes the keys to building bridges of awareness and
understanding between people in an increasingly polarized world are
communication and collaboration,” said Hendrix President Ellis Arnold ’79. “She
is committed to making the world a better place for all and spends her time in
ways that make positive contributions to her community, on and off campus.”
The Newman Civic Fellowship is organized by Campus
Compact, a national coalition of colleges and universities working
to advance the public purposes of higher education. The program is named for
the late Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders, who was a tireless
advocate for civic engagement in higher education. In the spirit of Dr.
Newman’s leadership, fellows are nominated by Campus Compact member presidents
and chancellors, who are invited to select one outstanding student from their
campus each year.
Through the fellowship, Campus Compact will provide these
students with a year 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 provide them
with 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.
“I am excited to utilize the resources of the Newman Civic
Fellowship to improve my networking, interpersonal, collaborative, cultural,
and self-awareness skills to work for social change in our future,” said
Kreczmer. “I believe social issues derive from lack of understanding about
different people and their experiences. Communication and collaboration remedy
the disconnect.” Kreczmer sees opportunities to seek understanding through interactions
in everyday life, such as peer mentoring, discussing opinions in class, or
speaking with a family member about the social injustices of our time.
“My previous experiences, including my internships at Heifer
International, Arkansas PBS, and the University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences, demonstrated to me the wide range of possibilities for civic
engagement,” Kreczmer added. “I aim to continue addressing public concerns
throughout my life by having meaningful conversations with many types of
audiences.”
The Newman Civic Fellowship program is supported by the KPMG
Foundation.
About Campus Compact
Campus Compact is a national coalition of colleges and
universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. Campus
Compact supports institutions in fulfilling their public purposes by deepening
their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and
social responsibility. As the largest national higher education association
dedicated solely to campus-based civic engagement, we provide professional
development to administrators and faculty to enable them to engage effectively,
facilitate national partnerships connecting campuses with key issues in their
local communities, build pilot programs to test and refine promising models in
engaged teaching and scholarship, celebrate and cultivate student civic
leadership, and convene higher education institutions and partners beyond
higher education to share knowledge and develop collective capacity. For more
information, visit www.compact.org or
email Molly Leiper, Communications Manager, at mleiper@compact.org.
About Hendrix
College
A
private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently
earns recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal arts institutions,
and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will
Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and rigor,
innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous college
guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been affiliated with
the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.