April 12, 2012 — New College of Florida student Grace Fisher has been named a national 2012 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact for her personal commitment to improving the Sarasota-Bradenton community through service, community-based research and advocacy. Fisher is a second-year student in sociology from Jupiter, Fla., who has spent many hours coordinating clothing and food drives, volunteering with food pantries and working on homelessness issues.
“This award honors students who demonstrate leadership in the promotion of lasting, positive social change,” said New College President Gordon E. “Mike” Michalson Jr. “This recognition suggests that Grace represents the best features of the New College student body. It also suggests good things about her future.”
Through an independent study project at New College, Fisher participated in an Americorps VISTA initiative that partnered with the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness and Resurrection House, a day resource center for the homeless in Sarasota. As part of the Suncoast Partnership’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, Fisher collaborated with homeless individuals, city commissioners and managers, law enforcement and local attorneys to discuss crime, safety and community outreach techniques. She also helped synthesize data from a 2011 homeless census and attended community meetings with service providers throughout the county.
Recently, Fisher led her New College classmates in implementing after-school tutoring and mentoring at the Robert L. Taylor Community Center in Sarasota’s Newtown neighborhood. Fisher is also being sponsored by the Sarasota Branch of the American Association of University Women to attend their 2012 National Conference for College Women Student Leaders at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Fisher is one of 162 students from 32 states to be honored as a 2012 Newman Civic Fellow. She will join a network of students around the country, sharing ideas and tools through online networking to leverage a greater capacity for service and change.
Campus Compact is a national coalition of almost 1,200 college and university presidents who are committed to fulfilling the civic purposes of higher education to improve community life and educate students for civic and social responsibility. The award is named for Dr. Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders.
For more information, contact the Office of Public Affairs at 941-487-4153 or [email protected].
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