This spring, the Campus Compact of Iowa and Minnesota selected recipients for the Presidents’ Student Leadership, Civic Engagement Leadership, and Community Partner Awards. A banquet was held at St. Catherine’s University to Celebrate the awards that were nominated by President Allison Byerly.
Francine Legba ’23
Now a senior, she has been a critical student leader during the rebuilding period in the wake of peak COVID. Francine has been a CCCE fellow for several years where she has stewarded programs like Swipe Out Hunger and Clothing Recovery. Most recently, she has played a critical role in Carleton’s relationship with the community action center satellite food shelf, as college students have assumed full responsibility for its operations. Through a period of extreme unpredictability, Francine has been someone we could count on, always cool under pressure, adaptable, and willing to make it work. The world needs more Francines, and we’ve been lucky to know her for these last years.
Carleton Grants Office
This office has consistently gone above and beyond to support Carleton’s equity-oriented academic collaborations. Most recently, they’ve helped us translate our goals for our growing engagement with Native knowledge holders into fundable requests which have, among other things, resulted in our new Indigenous Communities Liaison position. They also volunteer to serve in advisory roles, contribute to hiring processes, and take care to tend to the ethical ramifications of community/institution collaboration in its many expressions at Carleton. Behind the scenes, this office is critical to our campus’s community engagement ecosystem.
Northfield Public Library Bilingual Services
This partner is extremely responsive to the priorities of our Spanish-speaking neighbors. We celebrate the staff whose creative, joyful labor makes that possible, and we thank them for letting Carleton be part of the process. Just this year, examples include a new Spanish-language homework help program and an adult digital literacy class staffed by Carleton students, a collaboration with Carleton photography professor Xavier Tavera honoring local Latino families, and an ever-expanding Hispanic Heritage Celebration that animated our Central Park this fall. This team is a wonderful community asset.