Appalachian State University senior Amanda Moore is the recipient of the 2013 John H. Barnhill Civic Trailblazer Award. Given annually by North Carolina Campus Compact, the Barnhill Award recognizes one college senior in the state who has created and led innovative projects that address community needs.
In her four years at Appalachian State, Moore has gone from small-town volunteer to an activist and organizer who calls herself a “global citizen.” She became involved in community service as a high-school student in Bayboro, NC (population 750), but she credits an alternative break trip to Costa Rica her freshman year with sparking her interest in human rights.
The trip “literally changed my life,” Moore recalls. “I had never been out of the country before, so this experience opened up my eyes and helped to provide me with direction for the rest of my college career.”
Moore went on to start the school’s Amnesty International and International Justice Mission chapters, coordinate the university’s first Social Justice Week to address topics like the death penalty and drug policy, and work with faculty to establish a campus Center for Social Justice and Human Rights. She has led students on domestic and international service trips like the one that inspired her, worked with non-profits in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, and conducted research in the area of genocide studies, presenting her work at a meeting of the Association of Genocide Scholars in Italy.
Her work has benefitted the Boone area as well. She completed 300 hours of AmeriCorps service with the local Humane Society, and organized an annual “Walk-A-Puppy” fundraiser to support the organization. She was one of the first participants in the university’s Board Fellows program, which places undergrads on the advisory boards of local non-profits. Moore was a board member of Horse Helpers, which rescues abandoned and neglected animals, and she supported the organization by coordinating service-learning projects and spearheading a $10,000 fundraising campaign.
Moore has been involved with numerous other civic ventures through Appalachian and the Community Together (ACT), the office that coordinates the university’s community service and service-learning programs. A double major in Communications and Global Studies with a 3.99 GPA, Moore will graduate as the university’s first “Citizen Scholar” in December. Her future plans include graduate school and work for an organization dedicated to human rights.
“Amanda knows that her education brings with it responsibilities to improve the world… and she has never hesitated to act on that knowledge,” says Dr. Clark Maddux, Director of Civic Engagement at ACT.
The Barnhill Award is named for John H. Barnhill, who founded innovative service programs while a student at Elon University and who later became the founding executive director of North Carolina Campus Compact. The award is presented at the Compact’s annual CSNAP conference for students involved in community service. Now in its 20th year, the conference will be held November 2 at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte. Over 175 student leaders from 27 campuses in 3 states will attend.