Falls Church’s Jasmin Chavez, a sophomore at McDaniel College in Maryland, has been named a 2017 Newman Civic Fellow, one of 273 student leaders nationwide recognized by Campus Compact.

She was nominated for the honor by McDaniel President Roger N. Casey for her passion for community engagement, social justice and volunteerism.

In his nomination, President Casey wrote that Chavez “plans to serve her community by running for Congress in the future and hopes to be an inspiration to students who come from low-income backgrounds and are first-generation in their family.”
Chavez, a double major in political science and Spanish, is founder and president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) student organization at McDaniel. She is also a Global Fellow and is currently serving as an advisory board member for the college’s Global Bridge program for U.S.-based students who were born or grew up abroad or are bicultural or binational. She is also a resident advisor for first-year students, an admissions ambassador and a senator in the Student Government Association.

In addition, she is one of only 50 students from across the country selected as a 2017 national fellow for the Young People For (YP4), a leadership development program for the newest generation of progressive leaders.

As a freshman, she received a Griswold-Zepp award from the college to organize STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workshops for at-risk youth from Falls Church’s Culmore neighborhood.

Also during her freshman year, Chavez was one of four students from across the country selected to intern at the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanics. She has also been awarded a silver Presidential Service Award in Washington, D.C.