2021-Katie Kavanagh
To me, the Lafayette Ideal describes someone who strives to build a strong sense of community both on and off campus. Since my first day at Lafayette, my professors and peers have supported me in finding my community here, while also challenging me to grow and pursue my own interests. Their mentorship has been deeply influential, and I have sought to continue this work as a leader on campus.
As the Co-President of Refugee Action, I have built a strong community that provides a foundation for students to pursue transformative social change. When I joined RefAct my first year, I was welcomed by students passionate about making an impact beyond Lafayette. Now as President, I seek to build community both within and outside our organization, serving as a liaison between the Lafayette administration, local resettlement agencies, refugee families, community partners, and our members. I oversee the entire refugee resettlement process for the multiple families we sponsor while simultaneously fostering a sense of belonging within our organization, training and welcoming new members each semester, and coordinating ongoing work among 30+ members.
My commitment to creating supportive and empowering communities has also manifested through my work with Lafayette Initiative for Malagasy Education. As a peer mentor, I built long-lasting friendships while striving to demystify the college application process for Malagasy students. I have continued this commitment as an RA for first-year students, working to connect residents from different backgrounds, create a welcoming community through social and academic programing, and support those initially struggling to find their place here.
It is my hope that, through my leadership and mentorship roles during my time at Lafayette, I have helped foster a strong and supportive community among my peers that empowers them to realize their own capacity for leadership and pursue their passions with confidence.
Academic Activity/Award 1:
Marquis Scholar-4-Awarded the 4-year Marquis Scholarship. The Marquis Awards recognize applicants to Lafayette who “display the Maquis de Lafayette’s ideals of global citizenship, scholarly pursuits, leadership, and concern for others.”
Academic Activity/Award 2:
Senior Honors Thesis Student-1-My environmental science honors thesis is titled “Invasive Asian Shore Crabs and Chinese Mitten Crabs: Current response, best management practices, and competition dynamics with native blue crabs.” I am conducting laboratory experiments and interviews with conservation managers to determine what is missing and what ought to be done to improve management responses to two invasive crab species that have the potential to cause severe environmental and economic harm in aquatic ecosystems across the east coast of the U.S.
Academic Activity/Award 3:
Sigma Iota Rho-Inducted spring 2020-Sigma Iota Rho is a collegiate honor society for International studies.
Academic Activity/Award 4:
Supplemental Instruction Leader in Chemistry-1-I planned and led twice-weekly review sessions and drop-in tutoring hours for students enrolled in general chemistry.
Academic Activity/Award 5:
Arabic Conversation Partner; Lafayette Foreign Language Lab-1-I facilitated biweekly speaking practice for students enrolled in elementary Arabic.
Academic Activity/Award 6:
Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences Conference-Spring 2021-Presented my honors thesis research on invasive crabs at the 96th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences.
Academic Activity/Award 7:
Lehigh Valley Ecology and Evolution Symposium-Spring 2021-Presented my honors thesis research on invasive crabs at the 2021 LVAIC Lehigh Valley Ecology and Evolution Symposium.
Academic Activity/Award 8:
Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast (BCONE) Award-Awarded spring 2019-Recipient of BCONE’s Charlie Bartsch Brownfield Scholarship recognizing the Environmental Site Assessment report I wrote in CE 322 for a site in Easton that needs environmental remediation.
Academic Activity/Award 9:
Dean’s List-Awarded every semester-Named to the Dean’s list each semester for superior academic work achieving at least a 3.60 GPA.
Campus Service Activity /Award 1:
Resident Advisor-3-I have been a Resident Advisor for 3 years. I work to facilitate relationship building and inclusivity among a floor of 20 first-year students every year. In my position, I organize weekly educational and social programs for the residential community, conduct rounds through residence halls to ensure student safety, and enforce community standards and policies. I was awarded Staff Member of the Month in February 2019.
Campus Service Activity /Award 2:
Co-President of Marquis Fellows and Scholars Board-2-I served as a co-president of the Marquis Fellows and Scholars Board for one year. In this position, I organized events and activities for the Marquis Awards recipients, supported the organization of a Marquis mentoring program, and helped coordinate Marquis Dynamic Assessment days with Admissions. I also formerly served as the Board’s professor liaison. In this position, I organized monthly educational talks with professors for Marquis Awards recipients.
Campus Service Activity /Award 3:
First Year Commons Council-1-I participated in Victoire Commons Council as a first-year student and worked with other students in the council to organize events throughout the year that built relationships and a sense of community among students living in the Victoire commons.
Community Service 1:
Refugee Action-4-I currently am the president of Refugee Action Resettlement. In this role, I oversee the entire refugee resettlement process for the refugee families we sponsor. I manage a team of 30 students and supervise the work of 5 student committees in case management, finance, accommodations, housing, and education. I serve as a liaison between the Lafayette College administration, the local resettlement agency, community partners from Easton, and our club members. I also communicate regularly with each family and our student interpreters to ensure our club is able to provide the support families need as we help them work towards self-sufficiency. I formerly was a tutoring coordinator for Refugee Action in which I worked to develop English curricula to meet the specific needs and abilities of family members, trained English tutors, and developed tutoring schedules. My involvement with Refugee Action also consists of aiding the events and outreach team with organizing donations drives and planning campus events to raise awareness of the global refugee crisis.
Community Service 2:
Alternative School Break-4-I was the PR & Marketing chair for ASB for two years and have been part of the ASB leadership team for 3 years. In my marketing position, I helped organize the application and recruitment process for ASB members and designed promotional materials to advertise the club. As part of the leadership team, I also work to plan community events focused on social and environmental justice. I have also participated in two ASB trips during my time at Lafayette – the first one focused on STEM education for Title X students in California, and the second one focused on refugee resettlement in Atlanta, Georgia.
Community Service 3:
Lafayette Initiative for Malagasy Education (LIME) Peer Mentor-1.5-As a peer mentor for the LIME program, I worked closely with high school students in Madagascar to prepare them to apply to college in the U.S. I developed lesson plans with my team to provide test taking practice for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam.
Community Service 4:
MOSAIC volunteer-1-Through MOSAIC, I was a weekly math and reading tutor for elementary school students attending Firth Youth Center’s afterschool program and for middle school students at Easton Area Middle School.
Special Interest Activity/Award 1:
Boren Scholar-Awarded spring 2019-I was awarded the David L. Boren scholarship from the National Security Education Program to study Arabic in Amman, Jordan for 8 months. In Jordan, I lived with a host family and completed coursework in advanced Arabic, humanitarian policy, public health, and the Syrian refugee crisis.
Special Interest Activity/Award 2:
Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center Intern-Summer and fall 2019-At Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center, I led educational lessons for visiting school groups on a variety of environmental science topics, including macroinvertebrates, watersheds, hydrology, water chemistry, and detritivores. I also assisted education staff with planning and organizing public programs, summer camps, and interpretive historical, cultural, and natural displays. I staffed the front desk on weekends where I provided customer service to park visitors.
Special Interest Activity/Award 3:
Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center Environmental Education Intern-Summer 2018-As an education intern for the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center, I planned and led weekly environmental education lessons for students (K-6th grade) focusing on estuarine ecology and watershed science.
Special Interest Activity/Award 4:
Noor Al-Hussein Foundation Research Intern-Spring 2020-While studying abroad in Jordan, I was a research intern for the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation’s Institute for Family Health. I worked to research and present reviews of recent publications concerning Syrian refugee nutrition in emergent and non-emergent contexts, refugee healthcare access in Jordan, and the psychosocial impacts of climate change.
Special Interest Activity/Award 5:
Paper Airplanes English Conversation Partner-Summer 2020-Paper Airplanes is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing barriers to accessing education by providing refugees free English lessons. With Paper Airplanes, I led a summer weekly English conversation group for five Arabic-speaking refugees.
Special Interest Activity/Award 6:
American Red Cross Donor Screener-Summer 2020-In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I volunteered with the American Red Cross as a donor screener in which I greeted and checked in blood donors for appointments, screened temperatures, and sanitized high-touch surfaces to prevent spread of the virus.