North Carolina Campus Compact, a statewide network of colleges and universities committed to community engagement, has recognized Ben Randazzo ’16 for his outstanding leadership and service.
Ben has received the 2015 Community Impact Award, an honor given to one student leader at each school in the network.
As a Bonner Scholar, Ben has been a leader and an advocate for service. In 2014 he served as lead coordinator for the National Bonner Congress held at Guilford College, a role that led to a summer position at the Bonner Foundation in Princeton, N.J. In the absence of a staff coordinator, he has recently taken on even more responsibility for the Guilford Bonner program.
A justice and policy studies major, Ben has also worked for food justice, serving as a campus project coordinator for Oxfam and working with Guilford’s Community Kitchen project to provide meals to local residents experiencing homelessness. The Brooklyn native was a summer intern with Grow NYC, where he worked to improve quality of life in New York through community-based environmental programs.
James Shields ’00, director of Guilford’s Bonner Center for Community Service and Learning, has high praise for Ben.
“In my 15 years as director, there are few students who I am more proud of than Ben,” James said. “He is positive, well-rounded, trusted by his peers. He’s brought honor to himself and our program.”
Ben and other Community Impact Award winners were honored at the network’s annual CSNAP student conference, held this year on Nov. 7 at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Nearly 100 students and staff from more than 20 campuses convened for the event. In addition to awards presentations, the conference included training on cultural competency, community engagement and the “sustained dialogue” leadership process.
North Carolina Campus Compact, the state affiliate of the national Campus Compact organization, builds the capacity of colleges and universities to produce civically engaged graduates and strengthen communities. Started in 2002 and hosted by Elon University, the network includes 36 institutions of higher education. Guilford College is a founding member of the network.