Leadership award caps summer experience for Elon public health major

Working in the University of Michigan’s Summer Enrichment Program this year was already a dream come true for Matthew Crumpton ’17. The intensive, 8-week program in health management and policy is meant for future leaders in the field who are committed to eliminating health inequalities.

But Crumpton’s experience was taken to even greater heights when the Elon public health major was awarded the first ever Richard Lichtenstein Leadership Award. The award recognized Crumpton, part of a cohort of the 22, for his leadership, enthusiasm, dedication to the field and hard work during his time with the program. It takes its name from the founder of the Summer Enrichment Program who is a professor of health policy and management at the University of Michigan.

“It was very intense, but I learned a lot,” Crumpton said of his summer experience. “It was fast-paced. From the first day when I walked in, there were papers on my desk that I had to deal with. But things got done quickly.”

While in Ann Arbor, Crumpton interned with CHE Trinity Health, a multi-institutional health care delivery system that spans the United States. The organization opened a new facility in August, a process that Crumpton was involved with from the beginning. He also assisted with strategic planning and development for the nonprofit as it expanded throughout Detroit.

Skills he’d learned at Elon were crucial to succeeding with the nonprofit. “I engaged in so many hard skills that I’d learned at Elon,” he said. “Things like Excel, SAS—what I have learned in class, I was using.”

Crumpton also drew on research that he’s conducted with Cynthia Fair, professor of human service studies at Elon. With other student researchers, Crumpton examined childhood obesity, with a focus on how social media can factor into obesity in adolescent boys.

The focus of the Summer Enrichment Program was on enhancing the access minorities have to health care, both as patients and as practitioners. Crumpton said that he learned how important it is to be an advocate for the community.

“Often, when you think about public health and public health policy, minorities are the ones that are affected, and so being an advocate for people in my community is really important to me,” Crumpton said.

The Greensboro native hopes to work in a children’s hospital in the future, where he’d like to help improve access for patients who may not be exposed or able to afford regular health care.

At Elon, Crumpton is involved with the a capella group Vital Signs, volunteers with the Center for Race and Ethnicity Diversity Education, and works with New Students Transition Programs.