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Rachelle-Mae Flores of Green Brook, a first-year Nursing student at Raritan Valley Community College, has been selected as a Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact. Flores joins more than 200 students from across the US and Mexico selected for this honor, which recognizes their commitment to finding solutions for challenges facing communities locally, nationally, and internationally.

Based in Boston, Campus Compact is a non-profit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education. The Newman Civic Fellowship is a yearlong program for students from Campus Compact member institutions.

Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides fellows with a variety of learning and networking opportunities that emphasize personal, professional, and civic growth. Each year, fellows participate in numerous virtual training and networking opportunities to help provide them with the skills and connections they need to create large-scale positive change. The cornerstone of the fellowship is the Annual Convening of Fellows, which offers intensive skill-building and networking over the course of two days. The fellowship also provides fellows with pathways to apply for exclusive scholarship and post-graduate opportunities.

“Rachelle-Mae Flores personifies a leader in service at RVCC and in the community who has found creative ways to continue helping others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite her demanding academic course load as a Nursing student, and the inability to volunteer in person during the pandemic, Rachelle-Mae has continued serving the local nursing home where she volunteered before the public health crisis. She has produced recordings of her piano playing that are shared with residents during mealtime, bringing much-needed cheer to seniors at a time of so much social isolation. She also supported a local adult day center by researching various virtual platforms, resources, and services that exist for seniors to keep them engaged,” said RVCC President Dr. Michael J. McDonough.

An art aficionado, Flores has created colored drawings that are sent to organizations that deliver them to seniors and troops overseas. She has served the mental health community by volunteering for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. At RVCC, RVCC Flores has supported her fellow students by organizing virtual study space sessions to encourage their academic success. She also has volunteered at the College’s Food Pantry.

“We are proud to recognize these extraordinary student leaders and thrilled to engage with them,” said Campus Compact President Andrew Seligsohn. “The experience of the last year has driven home to all of us that we need open-minded, innovative, public-spirited thinkers and doers. That is what Campus Compact is about.”

The Newman Civic Fellowship is named for the late Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders, who was a tireless advocate for civic engagement in higher education.

For additional information about the Newman Civic Fellowship, visit www.compact.org/newman-civic-fellowship. To learn more about the student leaders selected for this year’s cohort, visit www.compact.org/newman-civic-fellowship/2021-2022-newman-civic-fellows.

About Campus Compact

Campus Compact is a national coalition of colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. Campus Compact supports institutions in fulfilling their public purposes by deepening their ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility. As the largest national higher education association dedicated solely to campus-based civic engagement, Campus Compact provides professional development to administrators and faculty to enable them to engage effectively, facilitate national partnerships connecting campuses with key issues in their local communities, build pilot programs to test and refine promising models in engaged teaching and scholarship, celebrate and cultivate student civic leadership, and convene higher education institutions and partners beyond higher education to share knowledge and develop collective capacity. Visit www.compact.org.

About RVCC

Ranked by WalletHub.com and Niche.com as the #1 community college in New Jersey, Raritan Valley Community College has been serving as an academic and cultural center for Somerset and Hunterdon County residents for over 50 years. The College has been nationally recognized for its service to the community, environmental stewardship, and commitment to diversity. It is home to a Planetarium, Science Education Institute, and an Honors College for high achieving students.

The College offers more than 90 associate degrees and certificates, as well as career training, small business assistance through the Small Business Development Center, and professional development courses. RVCC is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, NJ. For further information, visit www.raritanval.edu.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 15, 2021

Media contacts:

RVCC: Donna Stolzer, 908-526-1200, ext. 8383

Campus Compact: Molly Leiper, mleiper@compact.org

PR #70