{"id":9233,"date":"2021-03-26T13:21:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T13:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2021\/03\/30\/larson-baldwin-receives-newman-civic-fellowship\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T15:39:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T19:39:11","slug":"larson-baldwin-receives-newman-civic-fellowship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/larson-baldwin-receives-newman-civic-fellowship\/","title":{"rendered":"Larson-Baldwin receives Newman Civic Fellowship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Asha Marie Larson-Baldwin \u201922 was a leader in social justice and diversity issues even before she arrived at Furman University.<\/p>\n

Now she is among the 2021 students awarded a Newman Civic Fellowship<\/a> by Campus Compact, a non-profit based in Boston that works to advance the public purposes of higher education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been nominated every single year I\u2019ve been at Furman. This year in particular, I have felt very supported.\u201d<\/p>\n

Named for the late Frank Newman, a founder of Campus Compact and advocate for civic engagement in higher education, the year-long fellowship offers a variety of learning and networking opportunities designed to help equip fellows with the skills and connections they need to forge large-scale positive change in the community. One student per university is eligible for the national award.<\/p>\n

In her personal statement<\/a> to the Campus Compact, Larson-Baldwin said: \u201cI believe strongly in the power of community and empowerment. My work seeks to push boundaries, rid of oppressive systems and structures, and give platforms to those who have been denied a voice. Above all, I do it with a deep love and hope for my community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larson-Baldwin was nominated by Furman philosophy Professor David Gandolfo, who said he\u2019s been impressed by her leadership skills which he first noticed when she led a high-profile movement to rename Wade Hampton High School when she was just 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she sees there\u2019s something that needs to be done, she doesn\u2019t think twice \u2013 do I have time in my schedule or am I the right person \u2013 she just goes and does it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For example, he said, she\u2019s been part of a student-led effort to include diversity in Furman\u2019s Cultural Life Program graduation requirement. She also has leadership roles in campus organizations, including the Furman Justice Forum, and was just elected president of the student government for her senior year.<\/p>\n

It was the experience of trying to get the name of her high school changed that launched Larson-Baldwin into social justice advocacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s how I ended up at Furman, got involved in advocacy, and it fuels my passion for research,\u201d she said. \u201cEverything connects back to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, she\u2019s been involved in teaching leadership and advocacy skills to middle- and high school students, and in programs helping students to address racial trauma through art.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old junior said she created her own major in advocacy and justice studies, with double minors in poverty and African American studies.<\/p>\n

As part of the fellowship, she\u2019ll work with a larger community of fellows interested in social justice issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really matters to me to do community work and to bring social justice into everything we do as academics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Long-range plans call for graduate school with an eye on becoming a college professor. Maybe someplace close by?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Furman will give me a job,\u201d she quips, \u201cI\u2019ll come back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Asha Marie Larson-Baldwin \u201922 was a leader in social justice and diversity issues even before she arrived at Furman University. Now she is among the 2021 students awarded a Newman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":389,"featured_media":9234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,42,36,32,75,76],"tags":[749,750,751],"class_list":["post-9233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-history","category-philosophy","category-politics-and-international-affairs","category-pre-law","category-top-four-news-3rd-story","tag-fellowships","tag-newman-fellow","tag-student-awards"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}