Lily Alexander

Macalester has long been known for its internationalism. One of the ways it recognizes that value is to annually bestow a Global Citizenship Student Award on the graduating senior who best demonstrates a commitment to the ideals and practice of high academic performance, internationalism, multiculturalism, and civic engagement.

This year, as last, all three finalists for the award—Lily Alexander ’14 (Takoma Park, Md.), Zack Avre ’14 (Sioux Falls, S.D.), and Jocelyne Cardona ’14 (San Jose, Calif.)—were so outstanding that each was proclaimed a winner of the Global Citizenship Student Award.

All three winners spoke at the Global Citizens Celebration. Live It! Fund winners were also honored at the event.

Following is more information about the Global Citizenship Student Award winners.

• Lily Alexander, a senior majoring in geography and minoring in Hispanic studies, has worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Global Citizenship. Alexander, who has a concentration in Global and Community Health, was very involved in last fall’s International Roundtable, serving as a student coordinator for a session about neglected tropical disease research. She has also interned for the Minnesota Department of Health and for the International Center for Research on Women in Washington, D.C. Alexander studied abroad in Bolivia in 2012, where she focused on indigenous livelihoods and the pressures of globalization. Her experience was transformative, writes Alexander: “Global citizenship is not about having the answers but rather about asking myself what the world is asking of me—about what piece I can bring to help the larger conversation.”

• Zack Avre, with a geography major and minors in political science and urban studies, takes a more close-to-home approach to global citizenship.  He has worked as an immigration intern for U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), a community and DFL campus organizer in St. Paul, and a housing assistant for Project for Pride in Living. Says Avre, “Global citizens need not travel abroad…. Some of the most impactful global citizens never leave their hometowns yet live beholden to a great community and the conviction that investing in their own communities sets a model for designing a more equitable world.” Avre is also a Bonner Community Scholar, co-chair of Mac College Democrats, a Chuck Green Civic Engagement fellow, and a Truman Foundation scholar.

• Jocelyne Cardona, an American studies major whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador, has her own distinct take on global citizenship. The senior, co-chair of the Latino/a organization Adelante! writes, “We must first re-imagine global citizenship by redefining citizenship. Citizenship must practice the inclusion rather than the exclusion of identities and bodies. . . Global citizenship should support the needs of the most marginalized rather than the privileged.” Cardona, a Chuck Green fellow, also chaired the Dare to Dream Conference, which created a proposal for changing college admissions policies for undocumented students, assisted the Mac admissions staff with recruiting first generation and undocumented students, and served in the student government. She also worked as a policy research intern for Asylum Access Ecuador while studying in that country.

April 2 2014

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