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Katherin is placed at Duke’s Community Service Center, which is celebrating its 40th year.

Guest Post by Katherin Castillo

Hello everyone! My name is Katherin Castillo and I am currently the Afterschool Corps VISTA for Duke University’s Community Service Center for the 2017-2018 year. It is hard to believe that I have been in this position for the past five months! Time has really flown by. This semester I have been working with America Reads America Counts, which is a program that focuses on tutoring students in K-8 in Math and Literacy. However, a big component of my role as well is coordinating the Learning Juntos program.

Learning Juntos is a program that focuses on educating parents on resources that can be utilized to help their child succeed in school. These sessions are in Spanish and facilitated by Duke student volunteers. We are currently serving 2 sites, George Watts Elementary and Club Blvd Elementary. However with all of this in mind, if I have to express this past semester with one word, that word would be: “appreciation.”

According to Oxford Dictionaries, appreciation is defined as “recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or something.” With this being said, I have learned to appreciate that this position has challenged me to overcome obstacles that have come my way. I have learned to appreciate the skills that I am learning and utilizing each and every day. I have learned to appreciate the volunteers, students, staff, and parents who have an interest in bettering their community. In late July, I honestly did not know what to expect at my service site. I am from Mt. Airy, a small town in western North Carolina, so the thought of doing community work in a city frightened me. The thought of having to work with community organizations, schools in the Durham public school system, and students and staff from Duke University was very nerve-wracking as well. However, I am a strong believer that if you put your mind to a certain goal or objective, then you will be able to accomplish it!

A Learning Juntos session.

The first few weeks, I was set to learn the ropes of both programs. I got a grasp of the history, the events hosted, and the partnerships that were formed with local programs. I entered my service year right when the program was in its most important stage of recruiting students and preparing for training. I interviewed students for America Reads America Counts but also set out to find students to interview for Learning Juntos. I reached out to local student groups and waited to hear a response. To be honest, I had to send out multiple reminders! However, I now have around 10 passionate Duke students dedicated to working with the Latino community in Durham. Both sites have around 5-12 parents show up to the sessions and all parents seem to be engaged in the material presented. I am very happy to see the parents return to the workshops each month! One of my favorite parts about my service year is building the relationships with the Duke students and families! Moments like these remind me why I decided to take on the NC Afterschool Corps position at Duke University.

“Gracias, es muy bueno saber que alguien le interesa trabajar para nosotras las mamas que hablamos español.”

This statement was made by one of the mothers in the LJ session. This quote translates to: “Thank you, it is very good to know that someone is interested in working for us moms who speak Spanish.” A comment such as this one goes a long way! It allows me to continue with my dedication to the program and overall, it allows me to appreciate those around me who have worked hard to make amazing programs like this continue. I am excited to continue my service at Duke for the next 6 months!

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ARE YOU A GRADUATE OR GRADUATING SENIOR who’s ready to support the important work of afterschool programs in NC while strengthening connections between colleges and communities?
GO WHERE YOU’RE NEEDED!
Consider A YEAR OF SERVICE with the NC AFTERSCHOOL CORPS, an AmeriCorps VISTA program sponsored by NC Campus Compact! Learn more.

2017 was a milestone year for North Carolina Campus Compact: we celebrated the 15th anniversary of our network, gained new member campuses, partnered to bring the Gulf South Summit to NC, and led Compact Nation in the number of campuses completing a Civic Action Plan. Our Year in Review shares these highlights and more.

Video celebrates NC Campus Compact’s 15th Anniversary

Our 15th anniversary video featured President Leo Lambert, the founding president of our Compact, along with current and former students sharing why civic and community engagement matters to them.

Special Events: NC Presidents Forum, Social Change Forum, and Gulf South Summit

The NC Presidents Forum (February 8) was hosted by Chancellor Harold Martin, Sr. of NC A&T State University. With a keynote by Lumina Foundaton President & CEO Jamie Merisotis and remarks by Dr. Alicia Dowd of Penn State’s Center for the Study of Higher Education, the forum was a space for campus leaders to consider new ideas about talent development and equity.

Our Social Change Forum (February 14), held in collaboration with Duke University’s Office of Civic Engagement, Office of Service-Learning, and the Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, brought together campus leaders from the fields of community engagement and social entrepreneurship to explore what the University of Michigan’s Dr. David Scobey called their “common ground and creative tensions.”

Participants discusses their views of community engagement and social innovation at the Social Change Forum.

NC Campus Compact was also a partner in the Gulf South Summit, hosted by UNC Greensboro (March 22-24). Gulf South is one of the Southeast’s longest-running independent conferences on service-learning. More than 350 faculty and staff members attended and several individuals from NC were recognized with Summit awards.

In addition to these special events, the Compact coordinated its annual events: a Community Engagement Administrators Conference focusing on alternative breaks (June 7); our annual CSNAP Student Conference (November 17-18) hosted by Winston-Salem State University, the first HBCU to host CSNAP; and of course our January and August network meetings.

Special Announcement: HPU and Qubein offer challenge gift to create a Compact endowment

During the 2017 NC Presidents Forum, High Point University President Nido R. Qubein made a surprise announcement: High Point University would make a challenge gift of $200,000 to North Carolina Campus Compact! The gift will go toward creating an endowment to help ensure the long-term sustainability of the network. Look for our one-time fundraising appeal coming in 2018!

Joining our network: Elizabeth City State University and Wayne Community College

In 2017 our network grew to 37 campuses with the addition of Wayne Community College and Elizabeth City State University (ECSU). Wayne Community College (Goldsboro, NC) joined under the leadership of President Thomas A. Walker, Jr., who assumed the top post at Wayne CC in September 2016 after serving as the president of the Grand Island campus of Central Community College in Nebraska. ECSU joined the under the leadership of Chancellor Thomas E.H. Conway, Jr., who formerly served as vice chancellor and chief of staff at Fayetteville State before coming to ECSU in January 2016.

Recognizing Civic and Community Engagement Champions!

Each year the Compact honors outstanding individuals whose commitment to civic and community engagement make a difference on campuses and in communities.

(L-R): HPU President Nido Qubein, Duke’s Dr. David Malone, Durham Tech President William Ingram, Elon’s Dr. Smith Jackson, Compact ED Leslie Garvin

In 2017, we honored Dr. William Ingram, President of Durham Technical Community College, with the Leo M. Lambert Engaged Leader Award; Dr. David Malone of Duke University, with the Robert L. Sigmon Service-Learning Award; and Dr. Smith Jackson, Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students at Elon University, with the Civic Engagement Professional of the Year Award. All were honored at the NC Presidents Forum.

We also selected two faculty members to serve as our 2017-2018 Engaged Faculty Scholars: Dr. Jacquelyn Lee (above, at left), an assistant professor of social work at UNC Wilmington, and Dr. Elizabeth Wall-Bassett (above, at right), an associate professor of nutrition and dietetics at Western Carolina University. Lee and Wall-Bassett are the third cohort of NC faculty members to fill the Engaged Scholars role.

This fall, we honored outstanding students, including Brian Wuertz, a senior at Warren Wilson College, who received the 2017 John H. Barnhill Civic Trailblazer Award (at left, pictured with John Barnhill). We also recognized twenty-three impressive student leaders, who were selected by their campuses to receive our Community Impact Award.

Seventeen Community Impact Award recipients were recognized at the CSNAP Student Conference.

Building partnerships with the NC Afterschool Corps

This year marked the first year of our re-designed AmeriCorps VISTA program focusing on serving children and families in the afterschool space by strengthening campus-community partnerships. The NC Afterschool Corps currently includes 11 members, including our VISTA Leader, who are working with a variety of campus and community-based programs. In addition to building afterschool program capacity through volunteer mobilization and resource development, Corps members are enriching programming by integrating Design for Change lessons.

Growing voter engagement and strengthening democracy

Dr. Nancy Thomas of the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education delivered keynote remarks at the 2017 NC College Voter Summit.

We sought to maintain the momentum of our 2016 voter engagement work by continuing to support campus efforts to strengthen democratic engagement. We shared relevant resources, including information about the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (which your campus should join if it hasn’t already!). We also hosted our second annual NC College Voter Summit, which brought state and national experts to Elon for a full day of learning, with a special emphasis on local elections.

NC answers national call to Civic Action

In 2016, national Campus Compact asked member presidents and chancellors to renew their commitments to the Compact’s founding principles by signing on to the 30th Anniversary Action Statement. To date, 29 NC presidents and chancellors (nearly 80% of our North Carolina network!) have signed on to the statement, committing their institutions to creating a Civic Action Plan that puts those principles into practice. In 2017, eleven campuses submitted a plan, more than any other state in the national Campus Compact network!

New Mission and Strategic Planning Process

Led by executive director Leslie Garvin, our North Carolina network completed a strategic planning process to refine our mission and guide future programming. We owe a debt of thanks to the twenty-five members of our Strategic Plan Advisory Committee who gave their time and best thinking to this effort. We will share the plan with the broader network in 2018.

Looking Ahead….

In 2018, we will continue to support our member campuses as they deepen their civic and community engagement. Our NC Presidents Forum (invitation only, hosted by President Jo Allen of Meredith College, February 9) features an exciting agenda that includes Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U); and Dr. Matthew Hartley, co-author of Knowledge for Social Change: Bacon, Dewey, and the Revolutionary Transformation of Research Universities in the Twenty-First Century. Plus, presidents will discuss the role campuses must play in promoting free speech and civility.

Our 2018 Civic Engagement Institute (for member campuses only, February 13 at Elon University) will explore strategies for “Promoting Civility and Problem Solving through Deliberative Pedagogy.” Our annual PACE Conference (register now, February 14 at Elon University), will feature a slate of workshops led by faculty and staff experts from the region, plus keynote remarks by Dr. Nick Longo, co-author of notable works in the community engagement field, including Publicly Engaged Scholars (2016) and Students as Colleagues (2006).

This summer, we will have a special Civic Engagement Administrators Conference (June 12). Assessment guru Anne Weiss of Indiana Campus Compact will help us focus on: “Planning for Data Collection on Civic and Community Engagement Activities.”

We are look forward to new and improved monthly digest newsletter, website, and social media efforts; another NC College Voter Summit next fall; the 2018 CSNAP Student Conference (location coming soon!), and more.

Happy New Year!

Each year, NC Campus Compact recognizes a group of outstanding student servant-leaders with our Community Impact Award. Each campus may select one student to receive the award. This year, 23 students were named by their campus as Community Impact Award recipients, joining more than 250 college students recognized by the network since the award was first presented in 2006. Seventeen of those students were recognized during an awards ceremony at the CSNAP Student Conference.

Congratulations to all these outstanding students!

Appalachian State University
Victoria Redmon

Victoria Redmon stands out for her work with ASU’s Alternative Service Experience (ASE) program, where she has served as a peer leader, executive board member, and now as chairperson. In this role, she oversees some 35 break programs engaging over 400 students, faculty, and staff, training leaders and raising funds. With her upbeat personality and focus on community-driven service, Victoria has motivated many trip participants to become ASE peer leaders themselves. She’s deepened her own learning as a Break Away Citizenship School Summer Site Leader, and she’s also dedicated herself to the local community, serving for three years as a Girls on the Run Coach. Read more about Victoria.

Central Piedmont Community College
Tida Bayo

Tida is deeply involved in the life of the CPCC community as a member of Rotaract, Phi Theta Kappa, the African Student Association, and the executive board of the Student Government Association. Perhaps most important is her role with CPCC’s Central campus emergency food pantry. Selected last spring as a student coordinator for the pantry’s first semester, Tida was the only student coordinator to be re-hired this fall. A skilled organizer, she manages pantry inventory, coordinates deliveries with pantry suppliers, and provides referrals to students who need more support.

Duke University
Snehan Sharma

Snehan has dedicated himself to working with and for vulnerable people in the Durham community. Shortly after coming to Duke, he got involved with the Kenan Refugee Project, first as a tutor and mentor of refugee youth in Durham through the MASTERY program, then as a Kenan Summer Fellow, then as a member of the Citizenship Lab project to support youth civic participation. With the Community Empowerment Fund (CEF), he advocated for affordable and accessible housing in Durham, including organizing the city’s first Mayor’s Landlord Roundtable during a summer with DukeEngage-Durham.
READ MORE: Duke University senior honored for community service

East Carolina University
Sylveonna Holmes   

Since the moment Sylveonna Holmes arrived at ECU, she has committed herself to leadership and service. She has been part of many programs, including LeaderShape, alternative break experiences, and national days of service. A junior majoring in communications and leadership studies, Sylveonna supports fellow students as a Peer Career Leader and as an ECU Leads Mentor, where she works with first-year students to develop their competencies for social change leadership. As a coordinator for the Pirate PALS youth club, she supports youth in Pitt County by recruiting and training college students to lead local tutoring, reading buddy, and mentoring activities.

Elon University
Amy Mullan

At Elon, Amy Mullan has made addressing hunger a key goal of her service and scholarship. As the Student Director of Elon’s Campus Kitchen Project, Amy guides 15 student leaders working to fight hunger through direct service and advocacy. Last year, her team collected nearly 7,000 pounds of food and prepared over 9,000 meals for Alamance County residents. She previously served as one of the first Farm and Garden Coordinators for the project, helping to quadruple the farm’s yield. With a faculty mentor, Amy has worked for two years on a hunger-related research project, “Newcomers and Nursing: Infant-feeding beliefs and practices of resettled refugee and asylum seekers in North Carolina.”
READ MORE: Elon senior Amy Mullan honored with Community Impact Award

Fayetteville State University
Alicia Williams

Alicia has been a leader in community and campus service during her time at FSU. As a certified peer health educator, wellness ambassador, orientation leader, and member of the national Pan-Hellenic Council, Alicia has worked for the physical and emotional health of her peers. As volunteer coordinator for the university’s Campus Kitchen Project and a co-chairperson for the 2018 Fayetteville-Cumberland County CROP Hunger Walk, she has fought hunger and improved nutrition in the community. Last semester, Alicia won a grant from Youth Service America to boost a food backpack program at a local elementary school.

Guilford College
Isabel Gutierrez

Isabel is an active campus leader who has made a difference at Guilford and in Greensboro. For children in the community, she’s been a STEM teaching assistant in a local middle school and an ESOL teacher at the Oakwood Community Center. For the past two years, Isabel has organized the college’s Festival de Niños, a fun, on-campus celebration for kids involved in community tutoring and mentorship programs. For her peers at Guilford, she promotes service-learning as the Project Community coordinator, serves on the Bonner Advisory Board and Student Government, and is a member of Hispanos Unidos de Guilford.

High Point University
Danasia Eubanks

Danasia is an incredible student leader who manages to be both efficient and caring. As the YWCA’s Justice Coordinator, she has worked with the City of High Point’s Human Relations commission, Library, Museum, and other community organizations to host “Front Porch” conversations on race and justice issues. As a Bonner Leader Intern, she focuses on program and partnership development, networking with the seven partners sites and with different parts of the HPU administration. She is passionate about social justice and is working to organize a series of campus dialogues across difference.

NC State University
Tin Phan

Through his service, Tin demonstrates a commitment to partnership and a caring for children at home and around the world. In his hometown of Charlotte, he co-created the Savio Football Club, a soccer club for refugee children, by partnering with his parent’s refugee community and a local missionary organization. When he founded NCSU’s chapter of Operation Smile — an international organization providing repair surgeries for children with cleft palate — he grew membership by reaching out to his Goodnight Scholars and Honors communities. As the co-chair of the LEGO Brick Build event, Tin built a strong partnership with the Raleigh Boys & Girls Clubs.

North Carolina A&T State University
Tylik McMillan

Tylik is an activist and campus leader. As a National Youth Leader for the National Action Network, he works to advance the modern civil rights agenda. As chair of the Black Caucus for the College Democrats of North Carolina, he represents concerns of African American students. As the director of outreach for the Brunswick County (Virginia) Democratic Committee, he worked to increase voting among millenials. At NC A&T, Tylik also serves as Attorney General of the Student Government Association and head of the Judicial Committee, as well as a resident assistant.

North Carolina Central University
Neils Barringer

Neils exemplifies the power of connecting academic learning and service. A foods and nutrition major with a concentration in dietetics, Neils focuses her service on food-related projects and agencies. As the volunteer manager of NC Central’s campus food pantry, Neils coordinates student volunteers, raises resources from community partners and alumni, and promotes a project that serves over 100 individuals each month. She’s organized hunger-related lectures and documentary screenings as the secretary of the Student Nutrition Association, and she’s also volunteered with the Interfaith Food Shuttle as a Cooking Matters event host.

Pfeiffer University
Mandee Schaub       

Mandee grows food for the body and the spirit at Pfeiffer University. As Pfeiffer’s community garden coordinator, she’s worked to engage external groups so Pfeiffer students can volunteer alongside community members during garden workdays. As a Worship Team leader, Mandee coordinates chapel services and associated activities. Finally, in leading the Angel Tree project, she directs a team of students who collect and distribute holiday gifts and plan a holiday party for 80 local children.

Queens University of Charlotte
Isabel Perez

During the 2016 election, Isabel was instrumental helping Queens be named a “Voter Friendly Campus,” ensuring her peers were registered to vote and walking them to the polls. Isabel also serves as the Vice President of the Call to Action Club, where she partners with other clubs and with faculty and staff on various social action issues on campus and in the community. Isabel has also served as a pen pal and afterschool tutor with local Sedgefield Elementary.

UNC Asheville
Kayla Taylor

Kayla is an advocate for students at UNCA and beyond. Her on-campus service includes representing peers as an SGA senator and working as an RA for a social justice-focused living-learning community called L.E.A.D. As the director of community engagement for the Student Organization Council, Kayla serves as a liaison between local agencies and student groups to facilitate service and partnerships. As an Ignite NC Fellow, she has worked to raise awareness of DACA and advocated for sanctuary for undocumented students.

UNC Charlotte
Neariah Mandisa-Drummond

As a member of UNCC’s first class of Bonner Leaders, Neariah has made a commitment to community engagement. As an intern with Friendship Trays, a local “meals-on-wheels” program, Neariah helps with all aspects of the work, including food prep and delivery. She has completed the Certified Leader program with UNCC’s Center for Leadership Development, and she serves as the student representative on UNCC’s Civic Action Planning Group. Recently, Neariah worked with a team of students to organize an event that brought Charlotte law enforcement to campus for a trust-building dialogue with students.

UNC Greensboro
Tiaira Moragne

During her four years at UNCG, Tiaira has held leadership positions with several student organizations like UNCG’s NAACP Chapter, the Neo Black Society, Sisters with a Vision, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority; and with university departments including Intercultural Engagement, Leadership and Service-Learning, and the Dean of Students Office.  Among the numerous community and campus initiatives she has supported is the Raise ‘Em Up Mentoring program, which connects more than 80 UNCG students with local middle schoolers. She also helped coordinate three Civil Rights Pilgrimages over the past three alternative fall breaks.

UNC Pembroke
Harrison Pegram

Harrison is an emerging leader at UNC Pembroke who engages his peers in voting and service. Working with a team of students in 2016, Harrison created the non-partisan UNCP Votes! project, which registered 200 students, garnered 600 voting pledges, and held 11 voter engagement events. As an intern with the Town of Pembroke, he developed a marketing packet to attract new business. As a student leader in the office for community and civic engagement, Harrison has expanded UNCP’s number of community partnerships, managed the online UNCP Serve volunteer system, and led an alternative fall break trip.

UNC Wilmington
Jocabed Aragon

Jocabed’s service supports Hispanic and Latinx communities on and off-campus. As a work study students at UNCW’s Centro Hispano, Jocabed helps her peers connect with resources and opportunities. As a mentor with Centro Hispano’s MI CASA project and with the Embajadores program, she supports local Latinx high schoolers and promotes college access. She seeks to build bridges across race and culture in her work with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and in her art. A film studies major, Jocabed documents Centro Hispano programs and recently had a film featured in the 2017 WilmFilm Chick Flick Film Festival. Last summer, she completed an internship with a social justice institute in Oakland, California.
READ MORE: UNCW Student Wins North Carolina Campus Compact Community Impact Award

UNC-Chapel Hill
Jessica Mencia

Jessica stands out among engaged Carolina students as a strong voice for the rights of immigrants and victims of domestic violence. She also displays an impressive commitment to connecting her public policy studies and her community service. As a mentor with the NC Scholars’ Latinx Initiative, Jessica serves local youth. As co-chair for Students United for Immigrant Equality, Jessica directed an inter-organizational call to UNC administration in support of undocumented students. In her work with the Compass Center for Women and Families, she established relationships with local cosmetologists to equip them with resources to support clients experiencing domestic violence.

Wake Forest University
Jenny Mai

During her time at Wake Forest University, Jenny has demonstrated a commitment to partnering for social justice, particularly in the realms of gender, sexuality, and race. As the Director of the annual Branches Social Justice Retreat, Jenny has built coalitions with various identity centers on campus, such as the Intercultural, LGBTQ, and Women’s Centers. In the community, she served as an intern at a local soup kitchen and homeless shelter, Samaritan Ministries, and managed a project that cultivated relationships between millennials, religious communities, and the agency. She has also led alternative breaks and edits a student publication focusing on social justice.

Wayne Community College
Aziah Morales

Since she enrolled at Wayne Community College after graduating early from high school, Aziah has made the most of her experience as a student leader and volunteer. She has worked with dozens of community agencies and campus groups. First as the Student Government Association’s special populations chair and now as SGA president, Aziah has made community service a priority, organizing hurricane relief efforts, donation drives for local non-profits, and events, including a campus lunch and learn for Rare Disease Day.
READ MORE: Morales Presented Community Impact Award

Western Carolina University
Fiona Buchanan 

Fiona has been a major force in Western Carolina’s focus on student voting and civic engagement. As an Andrew Goodman Foundation Ambassador and a team leader for the Student Democracy Coalition, she has helped institutionalize non-partisan voter engagement efforts even as she works to engage her peers. Prior to joining the coalition, she worked on several political campaigns and with local party organizations. She has also served as president of the Anthropology Club and as a Social Media Ambassador for the university. Read more about Fiona.

Winston-Salem State University
Jeri Craddock

Jeri provides key leadership in helping students address “real world” issues on and off-campus. She champions increased student access and utilization of mental health resources and advocates for WSSU student engagement with middle and high school students. Recently she supported a research project to implement a WSSU Counseling Center app. She also worked as an intern for the Initiative for Just and Sustainable Communities (IJSC), leading activities with community partners to address educational equity and criminal justice practices. For these efforts, Jeri was recognized as the Southeastern Region Miss Phi Beta Sigma.

View more photos. Photo credit: Kenny Brock.