BSC selects 2018 class of Hess Fellows

For Immediate Release
May. 21, 2018

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Students from Birmingham-Southern College will spend their summer interning with nonprofit agencies in Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Va.; New York; New Jersey; Ohio; Kentucky; and across Alabama – including Bread for the World and the Cleveland Clinic – under the college’s Hess Fellowships.

Fourteen students were chosen for the 2018 class of fellows by BSC’s Hess Center for Leadership and Service, part of the Krulak Institute for Leadership, Experiential Learning, and Civic Engagement. The program places students at top nonprofit groups, where they spend at least eight weeks of the summer serving as full-time staff members, building agency capacity, engaging in advocacy, and assisting the organization in addressing community needs.

The program, now in its 12^th year, is also partnering with the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty (SHECP) to provide five internships focused on poverty.

Advocacy interns extend organizational capacity by conducting research, facilitating coalitions among constituencies, or organizing lobbying or other advocacy efforts. Poverty interns examine the multiple dimensions of poverty and support projects and programs that strengthen impoverished communities.

The Hess Fellowships fall under Birmingham-Southern’s innovative rise³program, which offers opportunities to learn through research, internships, and service-learning experiences and self-reflection. In April, the fellows attended a pre-internship workshop focused on advocacy and critical reflection. Throughout the summer, they will complete critical analyses of their internships in writing and through visits with a Hess Center staff member. When the interns return to the Hilltop for the 2018-19 academic year, they will reflect on how their experiences can inform their work on campus and in their future professions. The poverty fellows will also attend pre- and post-conference sessions with poverty interns from the 22 institutions in the SHECP.

The 2018 Hess Fellows are:

Alexis Baldwin, a sophomore political science major from Bessemer, Ala., who will work with the YWCA of Central Alabama in Birmingham.
Rachel Barron, a junior English major from Huntsville, who will serve through the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty at the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy in Shelbyville, Ky.
Alexis D’Amato, a junior global and comparative studies major from Greenville, S.C., who will work with the Global Campaign for Education in Washington, D.C.
David Dearing, a junior business and political science double major from Fairhope, Ala., who will work with Bread for the World in D.C.
Kourtni Douglas, a sophomore political science major from Oakman, Ala., who will work with the Birmingham Education Foundation.
Madeline Ford, a sophomore biology major from Baton Rouge, La., who will serve through the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.
Robyn Gulley, a sophomore political science major from Birmingham, who will serve through the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty at the Saint Joseph’s Carpenter Society in Camden, N.J.
Amelia Haston, a junior history major from Birmingham, who will serve through the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty at Urban Upbound in Long Island City, N.Y.
Marjorie Head, a sophomore political science major from Columbiana, Ala., who will work with the National Alliance to End Homelessness in D.C.
Andrew McMahon, a junior mathematics major from Homewood, Ala., who will serve through the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty at the Richmond (Va.) Public Defender’s Office.
Alexis Nail, a sophomore political science and human rights major from Gadsden, Ala., who will work with Alabama Appleseed in Montgomery.
Luke Otwell, a sophomore musical theatre major from Bremen, Ga., who will work with Bread for the World in D.C.
Thomas Roane, a junior religion major from Gulf Breeze, Fla., who will work with the General Board of Church and Society in D.C.
Tallie Schaffer, a junior business major from Cullman, Ala., who will work with Alabama Possible in Birmingham.

About Birmingham-Southern College:

Birmingham-Southern College is a four-year, private liberal arts institution in Birmingham, Ala., founded in 1856 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It enrolls about 1,300 students from more than 30 states and 8 foreign countries. Learn more online at www.bsc.edu.