2019 Winner: Audra Linsner
Each year, the Maxwell Program in Citizenship and Civic Engagement (CCE) makes a number of awards and funding opportunities available to our students, thanks to the ongoing generosity of alumni, the CCE Advisory Board, supporters, external funders, and the Maxwell Dean’s Office.
CCE believes in the power of transformative learning experiences outside the classroom: summer work with community partners to jumpstart a Senior Action Plan, archival and fieldwork in support of capstone projects and Honors Theses, papers and poster presentations at regional or national research conferences, resume-enhancing off-campus training workshops, community engagement activities while studying abroad.
CCE supports these types of activities each year through the High Impact Experience Scholarship Initiative. Awarded on a competitive basis, recent High Impact Experience Scholarships have defrayed student expenses like:
The Call for Proposals (CFP) for High Impact Experience Scholars funding goes out in late March/early April each year.
Each year, students, community partners, faculty and staff nominate seniors for CCE’s crowning achievement, the Civically Engaged Citizen Award.
To celebrate our very first graduating class in 2016, The John Ben Snow Foundation generously funded this honor (called the John Ben Snow Merit Award). Every year since, we have continued the celebration of student excellence through the CCE Civically Engaged Citizen Award.
CCE presents it at our Senior Dinner to the student who most exemplifies the spirit of CCE by demonstrating:
The call for nominations goes out in early April each year.
2019 Winner: Audra LinsnerDual Major: Advertising/CCE
Inaugural Lead Mentor of the CCE Peer Mentoring Program, Remembrance Scholar, President—Otto’s Army, Believe in Syracuse Fellow, Resident Hall Advisor
Audra Linsner’s “can do” spirit is irresistible and infectious, which is why many of her CCE peers considered her a leader and mentor. She epitomizes a core CCE program value—respectful engagement. According to a CCE alum who served as one of Audra’s nominators, “college students will often leave campus to volunteer in a city to fulfill a requirement or to feel better about themselves. While Audra has given plenty of time to various volunteer projects, she sees Syracuse as a place filled with incredible people from whom to learn and full of positive things to show case. For her Action Plan, she took advertising to a different level through her work with Believe in Syracuse, and in the process instilled her passion for the city in many of her peers.”
2018 Winner: Kennedy PatlanTriple Major: Advertising/Women’s and Gender Studies/CCE
POSSE Miami Scholar, Blackstone LaunchPad Engagement Scholar, Remembrance Scholar, Resident Hall Advisor
Kennedy Patlan received six independent nominations that spoke to different facets of her contribution to the CCE community during her time in the program. One nomination in particular, however, summed up what made her stand out: “Kennedy Patlan embodies the characteristics CCE cultivates. She is constantly trying to make her community a better place, and through her service as a Remembrance scholar, a resident advisor, and the Blackstone LaunchPad Engagement Scholar, she succeeds. She also acts as a mentor to other disabled students, and provides advice and support to them on a regular basis. However, she takes it a step further and looks to the root of the problem. She actively tries to better Syracuse University by working to make SU’s policies and future plans more accessible to the Disability Community and other marginalized communities. Kennedy undoubtedly exemplifies what CCE is about.” Currently, Kennedy works at the Ad Council in Washington, DC.
2017 Winner: Carolee LantiguaTriple Major: Policy Studies/Political Science/CCE
McNair Fellow, Renee Crown Honors Program, Dean's Team, Runner Up: Best Paper, Maxwell Celebration of Undergraduate Excellence, 2017
As one student who nominated Carolee stated: "she never fails to impress me, from inside the classroom, to her independent research, she is always eager to share, help peers and learn more. Her eagerness to learn and to be informed are all traits I believe make an exemplary citizen and a perfect candidate for this award." Another staff nominator shared: "I feel as though CCE has greatly benefited from her consistently strong presence in the program both inside and outside of the classroom. She has volunteered on many occasions to represent CCE at events, with prospective students and current students. She is thoughtful, gracious and dependable." Following graduation, Carolee earned a Master’s of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Maxwell School in 2018. She is now a Project Associate at the National Quality Forum (NQF) in Washington, DC.
2016 Winner of the John Ben Snow Merit Award: Michelle SczpanskiTriple Major: Policy Studies/Public Relations/CCE
Dual: SI Newhouse School of Public Communication, College of Arts and Sciences/Maxwell School
Michelle is most passionate about poverty alleviation and economic mobility, particularly within the areas of education, community development, and social enterprise. “CCE provided me with both the flexibility to build my own academic experience around my interests and the opportunity to translate that into something tangible in the real-world.” Originally from Ohio, Michelle stayed in Syracuse, where she is now a Codes Data & Planning Liaison for the City of Syracuse.
Students majoring in Citizenship and Civic Engagement are driven, accomplished scholars. Our students have won numerous awards on and off campus. Current CCE students, please let us know of your accomplishments! We would like to recognize you here.