Beth Briggs '10
Elizabeth "Beth" Briggs, who next month begins her senior year at Cabrini College, has received the Commonwealth Good Citizenship Scholarship, awarded by the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania.
The $1,000 scholarship is presented to students who have shown an extraordinary commitment to community service, and who have demonstrated creativity in shaping their volunteer activities.
On July 20, Briggs completed a service trip to Ethiopia as a Catholic Relief Services intern, where she has worked since May on a food security program. She has traveled to West Virginia for service as part of Cabrini's Project Appalachia program, is a CRS Ambassador of food security, and served on the Cabrini College Poverty Awareness Committee. Through the College's partnership with the neighboring community of Norristown, Briggs has volunteered at the Coordinated Homeless Outreach Center.
"I believe strongly in the power and importance of not only community service, but also social justice," said Briggs, a psychology and sociology major with a 3.98 grade-point-average. "I feel that everyone should find at least one charitable cause to be passionate about, and commit time in their life to this cause. Not only does it benefit the needy, it also benefits the person engaging in the service."
Cabrini long has been at the forefront of community engagement among colleges and universities, and was among the first in higher education to implement community service into its curriculum.
Last year, Cabrini was one of nine Pennsylvania colleges and universities (and 111 nationwide) recognized for community engagement by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for "Curricular Engagement" and "Outreach and Partnerships," and has been named three times to the President's Higher Education Community Honor Roll for General Community Service, including twice with distinction. Cabrini also is one of five schools to receive the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars' first Higher Education Civic Engagement Award.