Elon University junior Amber Mathis has received a Newman Civic Fellows Award from Campus Compact, a national organization that aims to improve community life and to educate college students on civic and social responsibility. She is one of 135 students from 30 states to receive the award.
The Newman Civic Fellows Awards recognize inspiring college student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country.
“These students represent the next generation of public problem solvers and civic leaders. They serve as national examples of the role that higher education can, and does, play in building a better world,” said Campus Compact President Maureen F. Curley.
Mathis is a leader in the fight against hunger in North Carolina’s Alamance County. As the student director of the Campus Kitchen at Elon University, she has led students, faculty and staff in the donation of more than 3,000 pounds of food, including 300 meals to the surrounding community.
The middle grades education major from Asheville, N.C., coordinated research efforts of the national Campus Kitchens Project in 2009 and over the past two years has been involved in the process of receiving affiliate status at Elon University. Under her leadership CKEU, is thriving as an on-site service opportunity through the Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement.
The Newman Civic Fellows are named for Frank Newman, one of the founders of Campus Compact. Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 1,100 college and university presidents—representing some 6 million students—who are committed to fulfilling the civic purposes of higher education to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility.
Through the Newman Civic Fellows Awards, college and university presidents acknowledge students with the ability and motivation to create lasting change in their communities.