Kara D’Ascenzo ’22 Selected as 2021 Newman Civic Fellow

Haverford College is pleased to announce that Kara D’Ascenzo ’22 has been named a 2021 Newman Civic Fellow. Students selected for this yearlong fellowship are leaders on their campuses who demonstrate a commitment to finding solutions for challenges facing communities locally, nationally, and internationally. 

D’Ascenzo was recognized for both her work on campus mobilizing voters as a part of Haverford Votes and her work as a part of the Migration Encounters project, which combats misinformation about migrants by collecting and sharing their stories of immigration and deportation experiences.

“Kara’s work has--and continues to--make a lasting impression on the Haverford community,” said President Wendy Raymond in her nomination letter. “She has invested her energies in multiple meaningful projects and played significant leadership roles among students. She has worked alongside staff, faculty, and administrators in efforts to foster an ethically engaged, diverse, equitable, and inclusive community at Haverford College.”

Taking advantage of the full breadth of the liberal arts experience, D’Ascenzo is majoring in political science, minoring in both environmental studies and history, and concentrating in Latin American, Ibererian, and Latinx Studies. In addition to her work with Haverford Votes and Migration Encounters, she is also involved in the Haverford Outdoors Club (HAVOC), including its Pre-Customs Orientation Program (PCOP), which she is helping to organize for this upcoming summer. Additionally, she is a fellow in the Admission Office and a tutor in the Writing Center. 

“I’m hoping to develop my organizing and advocacy skills [as a Newman Fellow] and to learn how to better serve my community and advocate for social change,” she said. “More specifically, I'm hoping to become a better leader and gain valuable organizing mechanics that I can utilize during my time at Haverford and beyond.”

D’Ascenzo is one of the 212 students from 39 states, Washington, D.C., and Mexico who have been selected for the 2021 cohort. Over the course of a year, the fellows will be provided with a variety of learning and networking opportunities emphasizing personal, professional, and civic growth. They will participate in numerous virtual training and networking opportunities to help bolster the skills and connections they need to create large-scale positive change, including the cornerstone event, the two-day Annual Convening of Fellows.

The Newman Civic Fellowship is offered by Campus Compact, a Boston-based nonprofit working to advance the public purposes of higher education. 

“We are proud to recognize these extraordinary student leaders and thrilled to engage with them,” said Campus Compact President Andrew Seligsohn. “The experience of the last year has driven home to all of us that we need open-minded, innovative, public-spirited thinkers and doers. That is what Campus Compact is about, and the stories of our Newman Civic Fellows demonstrate it’s who they are.”

Read more about Fords who have won fellowships, scholarships, or grants.