Sydney Lamb, Wittenberg class of 2023, is being acknowledged as a public problem solver. Thanks to her demonstrated investment in finding solutions for challenges facing the community, she was recently named a Campus Compact 2022 Newman Civic Fellow. She was presented with the award during the University’s Honors Convocation.
Lamb, from Medway, Ohio, joins a group of 173 community-committed students representing the organization’s member colleges and universities from 38 states and Mexico. The Newman Civic Fellowship is a year-long program for students from Campus Compact member institutions. View the entire list here: 2022 Newman Civic Fellows.
Through the fellowship, Campus Compact will provide students with a year of learning and networking opportunities that emphasize personal, professional, and civic growth. Each year, fellows participate in numerous virtual training and networking opportunities to help provide them with the skills and connections they need to create large-scale positive change. The cornerstone of the fellowship is the Annual Convening of Fellows, which offers intensive skill-building and networking over the course of two days. The fellowship also provides fellows with pathways to apply for exclusive scholarship and post-graduate opportunities. Fellows are nominated by their president or chancellor on the basis of their potential for public leadership.
Sydney Lamb “has distinguished herself with a depth of commitment to creating inclusive learning environments and equitable communities on and off campus,” Wittenberg President Michael Frandsen said in his nominating letter. “Sydney is a collaborative and compassionate leader who consistently articulates the value of civic friendship as a remedy for political polarization and path to strengthen democratic institutions. She has great potential to influence change.”
Lamb, an education major pursuing a minor in political science, serves on student government, leads a chapter of the co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, and works with local food banks and city government to address food and recreation needs of local youth. She plans to be an intervention specialist.
“As a child growing up in rural Ohio, ignorance was bliss as my experiences with diversity were minimal, but having a sibling born with a disability enabled me to see disparities in treatment that led me to my path of becoming an intervention specialist,” she said in her application letter. “I am fortunate enough to have gotten an education and to have the resources to educate myself on topics of injustice, and I am dedicated as an educator and an individual to being a lifelong learner.”
During her time at Wittenberg, Lamb has found that her desire for social change is strong enough to pursue a minor in political science so she can learn about how to address injustices.
“One vital way to enact change was through communication,” she said. “To be able to see from others’ perspectives with the intent to understand is a great asset for any leader to strive for, and in our society where political polarization is growing stronger with each headline, I find that applying the concept of civic friendship extremely important. Through this fellowship, my goal is to focus on collaborative conversations with the intent to address areas of concern within the community. I hope to use my leadership experience to create these changes.”
The Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes students who stand out for their commitment to creating positive change in communities locally and around the world. The fellowship is named for the late Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders, who was a tireless advocate for civic engagement in higher education. The fellowship supported by the KPMG Foundation and by the Newman's Own Foundation.
“We are proud to name such an outstanding and diverse group of students as Newman Civic Fellows,” said Campus Compact President Bobbie Laur. “Their passion and resolve to take action on the wide range of issues challenging our neighborhoods and communities is inspiring and deeply needed. We cannot wait to engage with them through this transformative experience.”
Campus Compact is a national coalition of 1,000-plus colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. A Boston-based nonprofit organization, Campus Compact supports institutions in fulfilling their public purposes by deepening their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility. As the largest national higher education association dedicated solely to campus-based civic engagement, it provides professional development to administrators and faculty to enable them to engage effectively, facilitate national partnerships connecting campuses with key issues in their local communities, build pilot programs to test and refine promising models in engaged teaching and scholarship, and celebrate and cultivate student civic leadership. Visit www.compact.org.
