2021-Lauren Phillips-Jackson
My time at Lafayette has transformed me from a nervous first-year afraid to leave home to someone who still has much to learn, but has a clear sense of who she is, where she wants to go with her life, and the depth of her ethical commitments. After four years of learning from Lafayette’s incredible professors, staff, and students, I have come to the conclusion that there is no ideal Lafayette student because the highest ideal anyone can reach is to discover and be guided by their own internal moral compass.
I have come to understand my longtime interest in equity and inclusion as a fundamental part of who I am. My work resettling refugee families, researching food apartheid, leading social and environmental justice trainings, helping students from Madagascar apply to college, creating inclusive and supportive residence halls, and even my commitments to a vegetarian and cruelty free lifestyle are all an expression of my most deeply held belief that every living being deserves a life of dignity and fulfillment, free from exploitation and oppression.
The A&S Department has been my intellectual home, encouraging my curiosity and thirst for knowledge and guiding me to analyze the world around me through theories of violence, oppression, and resistance. With their support I have pursued opportunities to promote social and environmental justice in the here-and-now while building the insights and competencies I will need to pursue a public policy career in the future. No doubt the values and beliefs that drive all of us look different, but I will forever be grateful to Lafayette for providing a space that led me to discover mine and prompted me to pursue a life of service where I can be proud to look myself in the mirror at the end of every day.
Academic Activity/Award 1:
Paul Bernon Memorial Prize in Sociology-Awarded Spring 2021-Awarded each year by the faculty in the department of Anthropology and Sociology to the graduating senior most outstanding in Sociology.
Academic Activity/Award 2:
Amanda Miner ’18 Award for Campus and A&S Department Leadership-Awarded Spring 2021-This award is given to a senior A&S major selected by A&S majors and minors in recognition of their significant engagement in the A&S Department and Lafayette campus and their leadership in promoting the welfare of others. This award is in memory of Amanda Miner ’18, an A&S major with a contagious love of learning about the world, exploring community, and fostering positive change through Anthropology and Sociology.
Academic Activity/Award 3:
Senior Thesis-1 year-Currently writing a senior thesis in the Anthropology and Sociology Department. Research includes archival research and qualitative interviews with food justice activists in Chicago to explore how activists conceptualize food access differently from scholars and governmental bodies. Research also focuses on the the connections between food apartheid and housing discrimination. Working title: Moral Exclusion and Spatial Justice: Experiences with Food Access and Activism in Racialized Communities in Chicago.
Academic Activity/Award 4:
Excel Scholar-1 year-Professor Seo-Hyun Park, Principle Investigator. Selected by Prof. Park to develop critical literature review on East Asian territorial disputes and the role of colonial police forces. Excel Scholar program is by faculty nomination only.
Academic Activity/Award 5:
Technology Clinic-1 year-Selected to work on a seven-person, interdisciplinary team of students to design and present an innovative solution to increase the vitality and economic revenue of our client, the Borough of Weatherly, PA. Served as part of the development team for a 2 million dollar project, and our work led to further grants. My teammates and I presented our findings at a Landis Center research poster session.
Academic Activity/Award 6:
Lafayette Initiative for Malagasy Education-1.5 years-Selected as part of a twelve-person interdisciplinary team for a 1.5 year mentoring program to prepare economically disadvantaged Malagasy students to apply to US colleges. Mentored in Madagascar and performed extensive work on prospective students’ college applications. Work resulted in Malagasy students’ successful college applications to study at U.S. colleges and in higher education programs in other countries.
Academic Activity/Award 7:
International Honors Program: Food Systems: Agriculture, Sustainability, and Justice-Spring 2020-Participated in a comparative study abroad program in Ecuador, Malawi, and Italy. This team-based service-learning program examined food production, distribution, and labor with a focus on historical and current inequalities in the global food system. The program included extensive work with governmental officials, policy experts, farmers, and activists. Due to COVID-19, we evacuated Ecuador unexpectedly and conducted the Malawi and Italy portions virtually.
Academic Activity/Award 8:
Dean’s List-4 years-Named to the Dean’s list for every semester since beginning college.
Academic Activity/Award 9:
Ethnographic Research Fund-Awarded Fall 2020-Wrote a successful grant proposal and received funding to conduct archival research and semi-structured interviews for my senior thesis.
Campus Service Activity /Award 1:
Head Resident-1 year-Hired as one of eight Head Residents on campus to supervise eight Resident Advisors (RAs) and over 150 residents in Ruef Hall and Two West. Work includes cultivating a residential and staff culture that promotes equity and inclusion, leading weekly staff meetings, providing in-depth support and one-on-one mentoring to RAs, coaching RAs through challenging situations and helping RAs to build their confidence and skill set, addressing both positive and negative RA performance, completing progress reports and holding performance meetings with RAs, approving programs, and compiling a weekly report of all notable happenings in Ruef Hall and Two West.
Campus Service Activity /Award 2:
Resident Advisor-2 years-Fostered an inclusive, safe, and supportive environment for first-year residents; provided educational and social programing; attended to residents’ emotional, physical, and academic needs; enforced college policy; communicated and collaborated with a team of other RAs and multiple administrators. Received programing award and named staff member of the month for November and December of 2019.
Campus Service Activity /Award 3:
Kaleidoscope-3 years-Selected to work on a small, diverse team of students who promote to social justice by delivering presentations on the “Big 8” identities and social justice topics; fostering and facilitating challenging dialogue; representing Lafayette at key admissions events; highlighting the intersectionality of social justice and environmental work; sitting on panels for the Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship; working on the podcast “Scoping it Out,” and creating campus-wide educational events and public information campaigns. Kaleidoscope’s work has been featured in multiple news stories.
Campus Service Activity /Award 4:
Refugee Action-4 years-Co-President (2020-); Education Chair (2019); Medical Chair (2018); Community Liaison Chair (2017); As Co-President, I lead the organization in recruiting and corresponding with community volunteers; assist in making key decisions about the resettlement process; create and implement campus and community wide educational events; work on outreach and fundraising efforts, collaborate in launching the National Intercollegiate Conference on Refugee Advocacy and the LVAIC Migration Summit, and spearhead a keynote event and ambitious virtual film screening series during remote learning. As a committee chair, I introduced a key annual interfaith community event, introduced a focus on the intersections between the refugee crisis and the environment, coordinated all transportation for refugee families resettled by Refugee Action, managed educational opportunities and schooling for family, as well as tutored and assisted family members in developing cultural competency.
Campus Service Activity /Award 5:
Lafayette Food and Farm Cooperative-3 years-Secretary (2020-), Vice President and Programing Director (2019), Public Relations Chair (2018).Weekly LaFarm volunteer, responsible for coordinating educational campus initiatives, focusing on the intersections between the food system and social justice concerns, creating campus posters, collaborating with other campus organizations, assisting with planning 50+ person movie screenings and sustainable dinners, as well as interactive earth month events.
Campus Service Activity /Award 6:
EcoRep-3 years-Selected to be part of a small group of trained students interning with the Lafayette College Office of Sustainability to reduce the college’s carbon footprint and educate students through campus-wide events and ongoing initiatives. Work includes interdisciplinary environmental justice projects to increase student engagement, collaboration with partner groups across campus, spearheading and implementing sustainability training for Resident Advisors, and work on creating Lafayette’s Green Living Certificate.
Campus Service Activity /Award 7:
Admissions Ambassador-4 years-Responsible for leading tours and open houses and representing Lafayette College to prospective students/families.
Campus Service Activity /Award 8:
The Mill Series-1 year-The Mill Series is an organization dedicated to political and intellectual diversity at Lafayette. I was asked to join its bipartisan committee in response to ongoing controversy to help realize its vision of more balanced and inclusive discussions, to assist with selecting appropriate speakers, and to help with implementing respectful dialogue.
Campus Service Activity /Award 9:
Residence Life Staff Member of the Month and Program of the Month Awards-Awarded Fall 2019-Awards given in recognition of outstanding programming and performance as a Resident Advisor.
Campus Service Activity /Award 10:
Commons Council-1 year-Designed programs as a first year to foster community among residents of Brandywine Commons. Worked with Associate Directors of Residence Life and other council members to host trivia nights, Super Bowl events, and other community building programs.
Community Service 1:
Meals on Third Street-1 year-Worked with a small team of students to cook weekly meals and provide companionship to residents of Third Street Alliance for Women and Children, a women and children’s homeless shelter.
Community Service 2:
Weigh the Waste-Ad hoc over 2 years-Volunteered at multiple “weigh the waste” events to measure food waste at Lafayette dining halls and raise awareness about the environmental, economic, and social toll of this waste.
Special Interest Activity/Award 1:
Policy Analysis and Research Internship for Frontier Group-Fall 2020-Worked closely with senior staff to conduct research on the effect of P&G’s tissue products on Canada’s Boreal Forests, updating internal memos on global warming, researching and writing about the possibility of a CCA-like public option in Texas and food waste/supply chain disruption and adaptation during COVID-19. Work also included writing pieces for Frontier Group’s blog and contributing to Moving Forward Together, a transpartisan agenda sent to members of Congress and President Biden’s transition team.
Special Interest Activity/Award 2:
Communications Intern for Global Education Network Europe (GENE)-Summer 2020-Served as remote global intern for GENE, an EU funded organization committed to quality access to Global Education across Europe. Roles included collaborating on fundraising and communications strategies.
Special Interest Activity/Award 3:
Community Engagement and Communications Intern for Common Share Food Cooperative-Summer 2019-Assisted in membership drives and recruitment strategies, managed Co-op community blog and social media presence; attended regular food and social justice meetings; interviewed key partners; facilitated future community partnerships and town hall meetings/focus groups.
Special Interest Activity/Award 4:
Anti-Racism Resource Sheet-Summer 2020-Spearheaded a project through Kaleidoscope to compile, organize, and disseminate hundreds of anti-racism resources suggested by Lafayette students and staff. This document is designed for all levels of expertise with the hope that it will serve as a lasting resource to help individuals think about how they can situate themselves in a push for change. This project was featured in the news several times.
Special Interest Activity/Award 5:
National Intercollegiate Conference on Refugee Advocacy-1 year-Partnered with students from George Washington University, Brown University, Wesleyan University, Georgetown University, and the University of Pennsylvania to found the first nationwide conference on college refugee advocacy. The conference is a space for campus communities to connect with and learn from professionals and student leaders in order to better support refugee communities in the U.S.
Special Interest Activity/Award 6:
LVAIC Migration Summit Board-Spring 2021-Collaborated with several groups at Lafayette to host a Migration Summit for the LVAIC colleges. The summit consists of workshops to raise awareness of and spur discussions about undocumented immigration, the asylum process, the refugee resettlement process, and potential student advocacy roles.
Special Interest Activity/Award 7:
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Awareness Month Board-Spring 2021-Served on the board for AAPI Awareness Month and helped to plan events to celebrate AAPI culture and heritage, explore the history of anti-Asian racism in America, and address its troubling current iterations in the pandemic.
Special Interest Activity/Award 8:
Scoping it Out Podcast-Spring 2021-Founding member of “Scoping it Out,” a new podcast run by Kaleidoscope. Co-wrote the script for the first episode, “Coronavirus as the ‘Great equalizer,’” to report on and analyze erroneous claims of equivalent experiences with the pandemic across different identity groups and socio-economic statuses.
Special Interest Activity/Award 9:
Frontier Group Policy Associate-Starting August 2021-Hired in November of 2020 as an incoming policy associate at Frontier Group, a non-profit think tank working on environmental policy and good governance for the Public Interest Network.