Jayda Williams
University of Central Arkansas student Jayda Williams has been named a 2018 Newman Civic Fellow.
Campus Compact, a Boston-based nonprofit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education, recently announced the 268 students who will make up the organization’s 2018 cohort of Newman Civic Fellows.
Williams of Stuttgart, a biochemistry major, is also the only Arkansas student to be selected as a fellow this year.
Williams’ advocacy work includes working toward organizing a campaign for counties across the state to adopt a Fair Chance Policy, known as “ban the box,” which would keep job applicants from disclosing criminal records until the final stages of the hiring process. She is also a co-founder of Leadership Education Activeness Perseverance (LEAP), a program that recognizes Stuttgart High School students for their academic and extracurricular achievements.
UCA President Houston Davis nominated Williams for the recognition.
“She currently serves as president of the campus chapter of the NAACP and has worked to advocate for statewide policy change to remove criminal history questions from employment application forms and expand opportunities for the rehabilitation of formerly incarcerated individuals,” Davis stated in his nomination letter. “Jayda’s concern for equality of opportunity similarly extends to students attending her own high school alma mater, where she has already co-founded a scholarship for minority graduates just a few short years after her own graduation.”
Williams is a mentor through the Minority Mentorship Program at UCA and has provided Hurricane Harvey aid as a Bear Boots on the Ground volunteer. She has also participated in the 2018 Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference.
“UCA has not only allowed me to grow academically but has also provided me with the resources to lead in [Recognized Student Organizations] and participate in community-serving activities that have aided my growth as a student leader and my transformation into an innovative thinker to initiate change in the challenges facing our communities,” Williams said.
The Newman Civic Fellowship, named for Campus Compact co-founder Frank Newman, is a one-year experience emphasizing personal, professional, and civic growth. Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides a variety of learning and networking opportunities, including a national conference of Newman Civic Fellows in partnership with the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. The fellowship also provides fellows with access to apply for exclusive scholarship and post-graduate opportunities.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate and engage with such an extraordinary group of students,” said Campus Compact president Andrew Seligsohn. “The stories of this year’s Newman Civic Fellows make clear that they are bringing people together in their communities to solve pressing problems. That is what Campus Compact is about, and it’s what our country and our world desperately need.”
The Newman Civic Fellowship is supported by the KPMG Foundation and Newman’s Own Foundation.
About Campus Compact
Campus Compact is a nonprofit coalition of more than 1000 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. As the only national association dedicated to this mission, Campus Compact is a leader in building community engagement into campus and academic life. For more information, visit www.compact.org and follow @Campus_Compact on Twitter.
