Campus Compact honors Brookhaven, Georgetown students for outstanding civic leadership

Providence, R.I. — Campus Compact has selected two college students to receive the 2007 Frank Newman Leadership Award, which honors outstanding civic leadership: Roslynn Almas of Brookhaven College and Douglas Finley of Georgetown University. Both students have taken leadership roles in serving their communities while excelling academically. The two will be presented with the award at the Education Commission of the States' National Forum on Education Policy on July 11, 2007, in Philadelphia.

Roslynn Almas is a sophomore at Brookhaven College, a community college in Texas. She has participated in numerous service-learning activities; most recently, she worked at the Stewpot, a Dallas-based organization that provides social programming for needy, poor, and at-risk youth. Almas notes that this experience and others like it "left a lasting impact on my beliefs regarding civic and community involvement."

According to Sharon L. Blackman, president of Brookhaven College, Almas is "poised to become one of our promising young leaders." A member of Phi Theta Kappa and the United Nations Student Alliance, Almas plans to pursue a double major in political science and journalism. She hopes to work with the United Nations or a non-governmental organization dealing with foreign policy. Almas was recently selected to be a student delegate at the Association of Community College Trustees' National Legislative Summit in Washington, DC, where she helped inform Congress about issues faced by community colleges.

Douglas Finley is a junior at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and president of Georgetown University Young Scholars (GUYS). The GUYS program enrolls Georgetown students as mentors to middle and high school age youths at a local housing development. When Finley joined GUYS, the program served mainly as a weekend escape for the teenagers. Noting that the program could be much more, Finley worked to expand its role, and the program now includes college preparation, cultural immersion experiences, and mentoring.

Georgetown president John J. DeGioia says of Finley, "He has the ability to bring together groups of people around a common concern and to communicate with them with sincerity and understanding." A math and computer science major, Finley is also active in NAACP and the Black Student Association. He plans to work in Africa with the Peace Corps after graduating, and then begin a career teaching math to inner-city youth. Finley believes that "all young people have potential and all they need is the support and opportunities to succeed."

Each of the winning students will receive $5,000 from Campus Compact as well as matching funds from their institution for school-related expenses or to support their service work. They will also receive guidance and support from university staff in fulfilling their scholastic, public service, and civic leadership potential during their college years.

Campus Compact and the Newman family established the Frank Newman Leadership award in memory of Campus Compact co-founder Frank Newman, a scholar who exemplified a life of public service and educational leadership. The award is designed to support and recognize students with financial need who have demonstrated civic leadership through service and scholastic achievement.

More information about the Frank Newman Leadership Award is available at: http://www.compact.org/awards/newman.

Campus Compact

An independent, nonprofit association under the umbrella of Brown University, Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 1,000 college and university presidents — representing some 6 million students — who are committed to fulfilling the civic purposes of higher education. As the only national association dedicated to this mission, Campus Compact is a leader in building civic engagement into campus and academic life. For more information, visit http://www.compact.org/.
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