February 27, 2017
University of Montana Western student Delaney Hansen participated this past November in the first-ever National Convening of Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellows at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate in Boston
Campus Compact is a national coalition of colleges founded in the 1985 in reaction to the media portrayal of the average college student as selfish and materialistic.
Hansen, who is also president of the Montana Western Student Senate, has been an active force in the local community during her college years.
“I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to engage with other students in the network,” she said. Student leaders underwent workshops and training sessions geared toward positive communication strategies and community empowerment.
Hansen also said they also underwent an experience known as the Senate Immersion Module. “Each student was provided with hands-on senate experience. We were assigned political parties, states to represent, personal beliefs and much more,” Hansen said. After assignments were given, participants completed a simulation of the process for passing farm bill legislation on the U.S. Senate floor.
The connections created were by far her largest takeaway from the weekend. “In general, it was encouraging to know that our generation is not doomed after all. In fact, there are thousands of engaged and passionate young adults that are working to shape the future into a culturally sensitive and politically aware society,” Hansen said.
Each year, Campus Compact affiliate schools nominate a single student for the Newman Civic Fellowship. This year’s deadline for nominations is March 3, 2017.
The fellowship was named after Campus Compact founder Frank Newman and is designed to support and train community-oriented students who are passionate about finding solutions to achieve social change.
Today, the coalition has extended to over a thousand colleges and universities.
