Unveiling this year's Newman Civic Fellowship Student

By Xander Cardona

(Angelynn Jimenez speaks at the 2023 Newman Fellowship convention held in Boston)

(Photo courtesy Angelynn Jimenez; credit: Eric Haynes Photography)

Second year student Angelynn Jimenez is hard at work at being in the Newman Fellowship program. Jimenez is always taking leadership roles to improve campus life as well as her own community. She currently works at the Hana center, a local non-profit in Chicago and she even has a published paper on the problems with sexism and ageism in the video game community.

The Newman Civic Fellowship is a year-long program that recognizes student leaders and student problem solvers and assists them in becoming better leaders for their communities. The Newman Civic Fellowship gives strategies, opportunities and assets to aid the students in their critical thinking, problem solving and civic skills. The main goal is for students in the program to take what they learned and apply it to make a positive change in their communities. Some parts of the program include the following: one-on-one mentorship, an annual in person convention, scholarship and career opportunities

Professor Merry Mayer worked closely with Jimenez in her application for the Newman Civic Fellowship. “Angelynn seems great and has really impressed me. What stood out to me was her interest such as her views on the video game community” says Professor Mayer. Professor Mayer has worked with Wright students for the past five years in being awarded the Newman Fellowship. Professor Mayer highly encourages Wright students to apply for the Fellowship.

She has stated “The program encourages leadership skills; it allows them to channel it to make the world better and it looks good on an application”.

Jimenez plans on using her scholarship to help her nonprofit apply for grants, do some networking and find opportunities even after the program as an alumni. If there’s any tip Jimenez can give any students she stated, “Just be involved in your community. As long as you’re a student in college you can apply.”

The Newman Civic Fellowship applications for 2024-2025 program are open at compact.org or you may find it in an email just like Jimenez. The Fellowship is open to all Wright students. Applications close on March 1st, so make sure you get an early start on applications for those who are interested!