Civically Engaged Student Webinar Series 

 

This webinar series features civically engaged student leaders representing campuses within the NC Campus Engagement network. Now more than ever, young leaders are needed to address the pressing issues facing our nation and world. During odd-numbered years, this series highlights students who work with outstanding community/civic engagement programs, projects, and research.  

Civically Engaged Student Webinar Series – Spring 2025

Now Accepting Student Presenter Interest Forms

Calling all engaged student leaders! If you are searching for ways to share your work, bring attention to an initiative, and get presentation experience, apply to be a Student Presenter for the 2025 Civically Engaged Student Webinar Series! We are seeking presentations that highlight students’ work with outstanding community/civic engagement programs, projects, and research. Presentations should help increase viewer knowledge of current civic/community engagement issues, introduce participants to innovative programs or initiatives that could be replicated on other campuses, or prepare students to be active citizens.

Presentations will occur live over Zoom each Wednesday during the month of March (5, 12, 19, 26) from 4:00-5:00 p.m. Presenters can select their preferred date(s) to present.

Interest Forms must be submitted by Monday, February 17 at 11:59 p.m.

Civically Engaged Student Webinar Series – Spring 2023

The Civically Engaged Student Webinar Series began in 2023. Their presentations were accepted for presentation during the 2022 CSNAP Student Conference. When the conference was postponed until Fall 2023, NCCE invited them to share their presentations during this webinar series. 

Students Breaking Barriers From 1965 – 2022
March 29, 2023

This session included a discussion of barriers to voting in communities across North Carolina and how students can help to overcome them. View the playback of the session below. 

Kassidy McFeeley is a junior majoring in marketing, and a Bonner Leader at High Point University. Through the Bonner Leader Program she assists the City of High Point, developing promotional materials and webpages on urban agriculture and neighborhood associations and is a Site Coordinator for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. Kassidy is passionate about promoting civic responsibility and community engagement.

Jenny Ngo is a freshman majoring in biology at High Point University and a Bonner Leader. As a volunteer at the Community Clinic of High Point, Jenny helps with general office tasks such as patient phone calls, filing, medical record assembling, data entry, and special events. As a Bonner Leader, Jenny not only serves the community but also promotes racial equity and social justice on campus, and in the community outside of campus.

Big Stories, Bold Voices: Activism Redefined
April 5, 2023

This session focused on the power of storytelling to fuel student activism. The presenters helped attendees explore how their passions and lived experiences contribute to their strengths as an activist.  

Iyana Marie Beachem is a Junior at Fayetteville State University studying Race and Public Health with a minor in Chemistry. In her activism career, she has created Federal Policy for Child and Maternal rights and currently prioritizes student advocacy with her NAACP Initiative “It Belongs to Us”.

Aigné (on-yay) Taylor is a recent graduate of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University with her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Bachelor of Arts in Sociology where she graduated with highest honors, Summa Cum Laude. Throughout her matriculation at her institution, Taylor served and advocated in a plethora of ways. Taylor was a prominent student advocate spearheading voter engagement initiatives and creating a civic engagement culture on her college campus. She is an aspiring Medical Sociologist who eagerly seeks to make life easier for those around her. Taylor is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and lives by the quote from late Congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm “if they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.”

Growing Up in the Grassroots
April 12, 2023

Joy shared stories from her book “Growing Up in the Grassroots: Finding Unity in Climate Activism Across Generations” and discussed lessons learned from advocating for climate justice with the Rachel Carson Council and invited participants to find and fine-tune their own “Why” story when it comes to science communication.

Joy Reeves is a is a first-year Master of Environmental Management student at Duke University specializing in Environmental Economics and Policy. Originally from Frederick, Maryland, she is a Presidential Fellow at the Rachel Carson Council, where she studies energy justice in North Carolina and how to creatively engage audiences and stakeholders with climate science. As a trained science communicator, cartoonist, and published author of Growing Up in the Grassroots (2020), Joy is excited to discuss the “art of activism” and all of its creative intersections. 

Wednesday, April 19 (6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.)
First on Scene

First on Scene is a two dimensional initiative to teach the community first-aid/ cpr and provide them with a resource to quickly refresh their knowledge. The resource, with the same name, is a digital phone app (created by Kirti) which includes education on how bystanders can intervene during medical emergencies as well as an interactive map to locate medical resources like AEDs near you. Most effective when combined, this initiative serves to empower the community to take action by removing the fear of not remembering the most appropriate ways to help during a medical emergency.

Kirti Patel is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying Nutrition and Economics. He has been an EMT for over 3 years, working through UNC’s EMS agency and local county service. Kirti’s love for education and medicine is what inspired him to teach a seminar about healthcare in media and more recently teaching cpr/ first-aid trainings at UNC. He hopes to eventually become a physician.