Fall River Bristol Community College student given prestigious national honor

Bristol Community College is proud to announce that graduating student Katherine Haley, of Fall River, Mass., has been named a 2021-2022 Newman Civic Fellow by Campus Compact, a Boston-based, non-profit organization working to advance the public purposes of higher education. Katherine will join 212 students from 39 states, Washington, D.C., and Mexico to form the 2021 cohort.

The Newman Civic Fellowship is a year-long program for students from Campus Compact member institutions. The students selected for the fellowship are leaders on their campuses who demonstrate a commitment to finding solutions for challenges facing communities locally, nationally and internationally.

Katherine Haley is a student leader focused on issues pertaining to addiction and homelessness. At Bristol, she served as recording officer of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, a student advocate on the National Community College Funding Committee and as a Commonwealth Honors Program Scholar, researching how the addiction recovery community is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. A believer in the power of education and connection to community, she designed and participates in mentorship programs for students in need of additional support at the college. Katherine has extended her critical work by volunteering in her community at the River to Recovery recovery center in Fall River, Mass. Through her work with local addiction treatment programs, Katherine is focused on assisting others through their recovery process and ending the stigma about addiction. She will graduate this spring with an Associate in Arts in Liberal Arts & Sciences (Psychology Transfer) and continue her education in the field of psychology with a focus on trauma.

Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides participants 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 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. In the spirit of Dr. Newman’s leadership, Campus Compact member presidents and chancellors nominate student leaders from their campuses to be named Newman Civic Fellows.

For more information about the Newman Civic Fellowship, including the complete list of 2021-2022 Newman Civic Fellows, please visit https://compact.org/newman-civic-fellowship/2021-2022-newman-civic-fellows/.