Georgetown students who have spent their college careers serving people in their communities are getting something back.

Georgetown University recently honored 20 Georgetown undergraduate students with the Lena Landegger Community Service Awards, in the amount of $2,500 each, for their distinguished contributions to community service.

"Georgetown is proud to recognize the many students who dedicate their lives to service for others," said Jeanne Lord, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs. "Their work reflects a deep commitment to serving those in their community and their world, and exemplifies the Jesuit tradition of ‘being women and men for others’."

The students who received this year’s Landegger Awards have distinguished themselves through a wide range of service and social justice pursuits, from tutoring low-income, immigrant or adjudicated youth in the Washington, D.C. area to creating organizations to advocate for environmental responsibility or an end to the genocide in Darfur, to responding to the needs of people affected by Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.

The annual awards were created in honor of the late Lena Landegger by the Landegger Charitable Foundation, and provide an opportunity for Georgetown to celebrate and honor its deep commitment to and tradition of community service. Students are nominated by faculty, staff or other students, and their applications are evaluated on the breadth, depth and impact of their involvement in service and justice projects ranging across many communities throughout Washington DC and the U.S., and extending at times into foreign countries.

The following students are this year’s winners:

Jason Beverley, Washington, D.C. - Nursing (NHS ’08)

Jason’s lifelong commitment to service continued during his undergraduate experience at Georgetown where he served as a volunteer nurse at the Whitman Walker Clinic’s Men’s Walk-In STD Clinic and has represented the Georgetown University Hospital KIDS Mobile Medical Clinic on the D.C. Immunization Task Force. He also served as a member of the Annual Community and Healthcare on Wheels Health Fair Planning Committee and as a registered nurse with the KIDS Mobile Medical Clinic at Georgetown University Hospital. Jason notes that his experiences volunteering have taught him that “time and attention given to vulnerable clients’ personal needs can produce amazing results and are always worth the effort.”

Alysia G. Bone, Socorro, N.M. - Physics (COL ’08)

Passionate about social justice and science, Alysia volunteered with Georgetown’s chapter of STAND: Students Taking Action Now, Darfur throughout her undergraduate career. She has also volunteered with the National Institute for Standards and Technology to promote the safe use of nuclear energy and received an undergraduate summer research grant to study the synthesis of porous polyimide nickel-coated nanoparticles to be used as novel MRI contrast agents that may detect cancer cells and other diseases at earlier stages than current methods allow. Alysia has also volunteered as an Academic Peer Advisor, a New Student Orientation Advisor, a member of the Georgetown University Student Association Assembly, and as a volunteer with Freshman Orientation to Community Involvement (FOCI) in which she devoted a week to intense service to the D.C. community. “I have learned through my social justice work that it is only with optimism and determination that one can bring about change,” she said. “No effort to enhance our great human household is too small.”

Katherine M. Boyle, Gainesville, Fla. - Government, English (COL ’08)

Katherine, a Mitchell scholar who says she is passionate about access to medicine in the developing and underdeveloped worlds, hopes to focus on developing sustainable ways that non-profits can continue to serve their communities through partnerships with businesses and private companies. Katherine founded AIDeffects.org as a mechanism for non-profits and individuals to find access to privately funded HIV/AIDS grants with the overall goal of bridging the gap between non-profits and corporations. She has also served as a vocalist with Cabaret Charity Concert, a volunteer with Catholic Charities, Georgetown University Hurricane Relief Effort and The White House Correspondence Office, as well as an actress with Georgetown University Players Community Service Theater. Katherine says that through her service work at Georgetown her career goals have remained the same. “Medicines have become the focus of my career as healthcare is essential to lessening the impact of poverty worldwide,” she said. “Finding ways that corporations can become a part of healthcare solutions in developing countries is my ultimate career goal.”

Gina Lynn Bulett, Willow Street, Pa. - Management, International Business (MSB ’08)

Focused on providing life skills and empowering underprivileged students, Gina has been closely involved as a tutor and mentor in Georgetown’s After School Kids Program. In this program she developed a financial literacy curriculum to help youth understand the cost of living in Washington, D.C. She has also volunteered in various capacities with Oak Hill Outreach at the Oak Hill Youth Detention Facility in Laurel, Md., tutoring students, managing the program’s financial activities, and coordinating youth development aspects at the facility. She has also served as a volunteer with the Pregnant and Teen Mother Program at La Fundación de Cerro Navia and is an active member in Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity. Gina says her volunteer experiences have inspired her to pursue a career in non-profit management addressing the needs of at-risk kids, in particular, those involved in the juvenile justice system. “I see education as a tool that can transform a life from destitution to success and self-realization,” she said.

Jose Z. Canto, Baltimore, Md. - Sociology (COL ’08)

For Jose, theory and practice are one in the same, and he has combined extensive volunteer experience with relevant research at Georgetown. A recipient of a Georgetown University Research Opportunities (GUROP) Summer Fellowship, Jose worked to connect faith-based organizations to development corporations in order to provide development expertise and funding to underserved communities in Washington, D.C. He created a “development potential index” to rank each organization’s potential to produce change and hosted a series of development forums to connect the organizations so they could explore possible opportunities for collaboration. A Mitchell scholar, Jose has also served as a research assistant with Immigrants as Victims of Crime and the Community Research and Learning Network (CoRAL), as a legislative assistant with DC Youth and Government, and as an intern with the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty Fellowship. Jose was also active in the Knights of Columbus and the student group Georgetown Undergraduate Men Advocating Relationship Responsibility. He also taught second-grade history and English at John Tyler Elementary School in Southeast Washington, D.C. with AmeriCorp/Heads Up.

Matthew C. Crommett, Cumberland, Maine - International Health (NHS ’08)

Committed to community service work in the health sector, Matthew recently completed a study on the role of religion in the health-seeking behaviors of adolescents in Ghana during a semester abroad. He learned about the importance of education in health literacy when tutoring incarcerated men at the Arlington County Jail through Georgetown’s Prison Outreach Program, and observed the dietary differences between Eastern Europeans and South Asians while volunteering at the Arlington Food Assistance Center. At Georgetown, Matthew was a captain and orientation advisor with New Student Orientation, and he also did volunteer research with the Maine Center for Economic Policy and Maine Office of Multicultural Affairs. In addition, he served as a marketing and outreach intern with Asian American Leadership, Empowerment and Development (AALEAD). “I want to spend my life changing disease-causing misperceptions to improve communities,” he said. “I believe that discovering original ways to approach the needs of suffering communities is equally important as participating in established programs.”

Janieasha J. Freelove-Sewell, New Haven, Conn. - Spanish, English (COL ’08)

For Janieasha, promoting diversity goes hand-in-hand with community service. In 2006 she created the Justice and Diversity in Action Living and Learning Community as a venue for diversity in Georgetown residence halls. In addition, she volunteered at an inner-city middle school in Washington, D.C. with the Kids 2 College program. There, she mentored and taught a group of 25 students about the importance of pursuing higher education. Janieasha also served as a volunteer with Alpha Phi Omega Community Service Fraternity and Leaders in Education about Diversity where she trained students, faculty and staff about how to discuss and implement topics related to diversity. She was also a member of the Student Safety Advisory Board where she worked to install lamps around campus and establish safe-ride shuttle routes. “I am living the numerous positive effects that academic achievement can make in one’s life which include economic opportunity, political empowerment and higher self-esteem,” Janieasha said. “There is an excitement in helping others and I want to give this gift to people in need.”

LiJia Gong, Olney, Md. - International Political Economy (SFS ’08)

Passionate about promoting gender equity through economic reform in the developing world, LiJia has combined her passions through a number of service activities both on campus and in the surrounding community. She performed twice with the Vagina Monologues to raise money for domestic violence shelters, interned at the German Marshall Fund and volunteered with OurMoment, a student organization focused on international development. She also served for two years as a tutor with the Prison Outreach Program, and with the D.C. Schools program. In addition she was a student advisor with the Student Activities Commission and chair of the School of Foreign Service Social Action Committee where she helped organize the first Careers in Social Justice Week, Hunger Banquet and AIDS Candlelight Vigil for World AIDS Day. “Service for me has always been an experience that has provoked me to read more and to keep learning,” LiJia said. “I want to keep learning about the systems that put certain people at a disadvantage in our world. I want to keep learning to be able to better fight for changing those systems.”

Hammad B. Hammad, Livermore, Calif. - International Politics (SFS ’08)

Drawing from personal experience, Hammad has devoted his time at Georgetown to bridging cultural divides and working with disadvantaged and marginalized populations. He recently co-founded the organization “Inspire Dreams” which aims to use recreational activities and the arts to promote health education and advocate for social change in the U.S. and abroad. He has served as a resident assistant with the Justice and Diversity in Action Living Learning Community, a performer with Spoken Word & Dance and as a guest speaker with Washington Cultural Seminars. At Georgetown he served as president of Students for Justice in Palestine, as a volunteer with Alpha Phi Omega Community Service Fraternity and he helped organize activities around World Refugee Day while studying abroad in Cairo, Egypt. Hammad has also volunteered as a mentor and tutor with Academia Bilingüe de la Comunidad Public Charter School and the Kids 2 College Program, and served as a participant and peer leader with Young Leaders in Education about Diversity (Y-LEAD) pre-orientation program. “I have found that by participating in community service activities, I was able to give back to those who have not been as fortunate as I am to escape the circumstances that cause them to live their every day lives under extreme hardship or oppression,” Hammad said.

Jay “Alex” Johnston, Washington, D.C. - Science, Technology and International Affairs, Environment (SFS ’08)

Committed to promoting environmental sustainability, Alex has been involved throughout his undergraduate career in a number of environmental advocacy efforts. He helped create the Georgetown Sustainability Committee comprised of students, faculty and staff who meet monthly to explore ways to reduce Georgetown’s environmental footprint. He spearheaded the annual Georgetown Recycling Awareness Campaign, and produced and co-directed a film about how to live sustainably as a college student. He also led the Renewable Georgetown Initiative which collected 3,000 signatures for getting a portion of Georgetown’s electricity from renewable sources, and helped lobby for a measure included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that allocated $225 million in federal grants for green innovation projects at universities. In addition, Alex has served as a monthly volunteer at St. Joseph’s Parish Overnight Shelter in Seattle, Wa., and at Calvary Battered Women’s Overnight Shelter in Washington, D.C. “My efforts to promote environmental stewardship and work at the Calvary women’s shelter have shaped my academic, social and spiritual journey at Georgetown and for me have symbolized poignancy as the binary components of the Jesuit ideal of the active and contemplative life,” Alex said.

Hafsa Y. Kanjwal, Sylvania, Ohio - Regional Studies of the Muslim World, International Development (SFS ’08)

Drawing on her family’s roots in Kashmir, Hafsa has been committed to interfaith and intercultural relations. She founded the nonprofit group KashmirCorps with the goal of promoting positive change in the Indian-administered region through volunteer and service opportunities. The organization brings ten students and young professionals to Kashmir over the summer to volunteer in the fields of healthcare, economic development and education. At Georgetown, Hafsa helped found the Interfaith Council which promotes dialogue between student religious groups. She serves as a fellow with the national Interfaith Youth Core and is involved with the Muslim Students Association and the Georgetown chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. She also volunteers with the Healthy Babies Project in Northeast Washington, D.C., and hopes to bring lessons learned there related to maternal and child health to KashmirCorps. “My involvement with community service that has incorporated all my diverse identities has helped me realize my career and life goal: I am personally and academically committed to the empowerment of disenfranchised peoples living in vulnerable contexts, specifically women and youth of the Muslim world,” Hafsa said.

Molly D. Keogh, Afton, Va. - Culture and Politics (SFS ’08)

After arriving at Georgetown, Molly discovered her passion for juvenile justice and began volunteering as a mentor with the After School Kids Program and with the Oak Hill Outreach program at Oak Hill Juvenile Detention Center in Laurel, Md. Through her work with Hoyas Outreach Programs and Education (HOPE), Molly helped organize the Hunger Banquet and activities including an “issue of the month” event and week devoted to awareness of hunger and homelessness. Her service experience also included work with Georgetown University Hurricane Emergency Relief Effort (GU HERE), the OurMoment conference focused on international development, and mentoring with the Sursum Corda housing project tutoring program. Molly is also a member of the LGBTQ Working Group for Educational Programming, an organizer for Community Service Day for Georgetown freshmen, and a number of other activities. “It’s been my work with the ASK program and my semester with Oakhill Outreach that has really cemented my interest in juvenile justice and finding a way to support under-resourced children,” Molly said.

Margaret W. Lippitt, Talbotton, Ga. - Anthropology (COL ’08)

Through her involvement in community service, Margaret gained a unique perspective of the intersection of health and culture. As a policy and advocacy researcher with the The Women’s Collective, Margaret helped plan an advocacy training conference for HIV+ women from across the U.S. She also served as campus director of Learning Enterprises which sends college students to teach English in 14 different countries around the world; Margaret taught students in Panama one summer with the program. She also serves as an outreach volunteer with HIPS, Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive and Charlie’s Place, where she serves breakfast to homeless men and women. She has also volunteered with Georgetown’s First-Year Orientation to Community Involvement (FOCI) program, Habitat for Humanity, Casa da Mulher Trabalhadora, a Brazilian organization devoted to women’s health issues, and the Whitman-Walker AIDS Clinic in Washington, D.C. “My service experiences have shown me where there is great need in the world, and those experiences have influenced my career and life goals by inspiring me to help communities and people find solutions to their needs and improve their lives,” Margaret said.

Aaron J. Marquez, Chandler, Ariz. - International Politics (SFS ’08)

After service for a year with AmericCorps’ City Year program in Boston, Aaron realized his passion and commitment to service. At Georgetown he became a member of the Chicano student organization MEChA and a volunteer with the Center for Social Justice’s alternative spring break program. He also founded ServeNext.org, a nonprofit advocacy organization that promotes the expansion of national service programs with the goal of creating a social norm for young people to commit to one year of service. “At Georgetown I have connected my faith journey with my service journey, have become a learner of the theoretical underpinnings of social change, and as a student in the School of Foreign Service I have learned how these values are played out in an increasingly interconnected world,” Aaron said.

Hemly M. Ordoñez, Carson, Calif. – Science, Technology and International Affairs (SFS ’08)

Hemly attributes her commitment to service to personal experience as a first generation college student born to Guatemalan immigrants. She volunteered with the East Coast Chicano Student Forum with an organization she co-founded, Adelante en la Educacion: Youth Empowerment Conference for Higher Education. At Georgetown she volunteered with the Women’s Center and Take Back the Night, an effort to raise awareness about sexual assault and domestic violence. She served as a resident assistant with the Georgetown Community Scholars Program, a group of 50 first-generation college students. She also volunteered with the college preparatory division of the Georgetown University Educational Community Involvement Program and with the Chicano student organization MEChA de Georgetown. Among other activities, Hemly was a resident in The Black House, co-chair of Georgetown University Student of Color Alliance, and co-founder of Hurricane Stan Relief within the Latin American Student Association. “My experience with oppression is what compels me to work within my own community as well as ally myself with other communities who have been historically oppressed,” Hemly said. “My background also pushed me to work both in an American and global context. This foundation has defined the issues that I have worked on through various community service projects that I have sought and created while in college.”

Xaivier V. Ringer, Rome, Ga. - Government (COL ’08)

Xaivier’s volunteer experience combines her interests of art, public policy and commitment to service. As co-managing director of the Baker Consulting Group, she manages the research of 12 volunteer consultants who work with local organizations like the SEED School of D.C., a public charter school focused on improving student learning through volunteer service. Xaivier previously served as co-chair of the Baker Scholar Community Service Initiative where she mentored students at the SEED School. The Baker Scholars Program at Georgetown provides a select group of juniors and seniors in Georgetown College with opportunities to connect their studies to the world of business. She also volunteered with the 25 Days of Service initiative, and served as a service trip coordinator with the Patrick Healy Fellows program spring break trip to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic focusing on child labor. She also helped produce the urban arts showcase Urban Fare for two years, served as a muralist-in-residence with the Foundation for the Development and Well-being of Women and Children in San Cristobal, and painted murals for local organizations including Garfield Elementary School, Martha’s Table, and The Black House. Xaivier also volunteered with Georgetown’s Center for Multi-cultural Equity and Access’ Hoya Saxa Weekend diversity recruiting event and Kids 2 College at Ron Brown Elementary School in Washington, D.C. “My service to the Georgetown – Washington, D.C. community and beyond gives me the capacity to criticize our human struggle within society, then develop the solutions to liberate us from injustice,” Xaivier said.

Amanda R. Sandberg, Puyallup, Wa. - Gender and Women’s Studies, Sociology (COL ’08)

Amanda has devoted herself to promoting awareness of sexual assault and women’s issues, and volunteers with women and groups committed to gender equity. As a student representative on the Georgetown University Sexual Assault Working Group and co-chair of Take Back the Night, Amanda has been involved in activities including the annual RU Ready? sexual assault awareness program, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Take Back the Night Week and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. She also serves as a survivor speaker with the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). In addition, Amanda has helped direct, produce and perform in The Vagina Monologues to raise money for My Sister’s Place, a Washington, D.C. area battered women’s shelter. “I have been able to not only strengthen myself as a feminist committed to the ideas of gender equality and the empowerment of women to achieve that,” Amanda said, “but have been able to make those truly amazing connections between data, real experience and standpoint to theory, ideas and philosophy.”

Eryn J. Schultz, Houston, Texas - International Political Economy, International Business Diplomacy (SFS ’08)

Committed to working with students in the Washington, D.C. community, Eryn has volunteered with College Prep Week at Ballou High School in Washington, D.C. and tutored English as a Second Language students at McFarland Middle School in Columbia Heights. She also helps teach English to Georgetown University employees. Eryn has also volunteered with N Street Village, a shelter for battered and abused women, with the Jewish Student Association, and she founded and served as president of the Georgetown Urban Debate League Alliance, a student group that sends Georgetown students to judge middle and high school debate tournaments in Washington, D.C. She also served as co-chair of Georgetown Outreach for Learning and Education, a student movement formed to increase Georgetown’s academic and extracurricular opportunities in the field of education, and coordinated service activities with Christ House, a long-term care facility for homeless men and women with chronic medical problems. “No other facet of human experience more clearly affirms a world order that is based upon the betterment of the human condition,” Eryn said. “Participating in service has helped me to create connections that span outside the bounds of my own community.”

Indra N. Sen, Chapel Hill, N.C. - Culture and Politics (SFS ’08)

A Truman scholar, Indra co-founded the group Empowering Young Asian Americans (EYA) to reach out to Asian high school students and encourage them to explore their history, develop leadership skills, and engage in their communities. The organization is expanding to other states, including a program in Sen’s home state of North Carolina that will serve Hmong refugee youth. He recently co-founded the organization “Inspire Dreams” which aims to use recreational activities and the arts to promote health education and advocate for social change in the U.S. and abroad and also serves as co-president of the Asian American Student Association and as program coordinator for Young Leaders in Education about Diversity (Y-LEAD). Sen has served as a volunteer with Georgetown’s Prison Outreach Program and D.C. Schools Project, providing English as a Second Language tutoring services to the District’s low-income youth and adults of immigrant backgrounds. He is also known on campus for his poetic and lyrical skills as songwriter and former lead singer for the student band, Mordecai. Sen is a 2006 Humanity in Action Fellow and a 2004 CoRAL Network Student Engagement Leadership Fellow.

Katherine A. Sperle, Bethesda, Md. - Biology, Psychology (COL ’08)

A volunteer with Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service (GERMS) for the past three years, Katherine discovered a desire to pursue a career in medicine. With GERMS, she served as Director of Training, overseeing the operation of the EMT-B training program and taught practical skills classes related to emergency services. She also helped arrange for GERMS trainees to complete observation hour requirements and helped train new members in organizational protocols and standing orders for medications. She also served on the GERMS quality improvement committee, where she liaised with the Georgetown University Hospital Medical Director to identify trends in patient care and areas for improvement. Katherine also served as a volunteer high school speech coach with the Washington Arlington Catholic Forensics League, and as a member of Hoyas Outreach Programs and Education (HOPE). “I realize that it is impossible to cure every condition or to respond knowledgeably to every inquiry,” Katherine said. “However, my community service work at Georgetown has shown me that I want to become a higher level healthcare provider since it will enable me to know more than I do now. I want to enhance my ability to diagnose and to greatly expand the number of treatments that I can offer to those in need.”

Source: Office of Communications (May 12, 2008)