Newman Civic Fellowship selects BGSU student for 12th straight year

Lauren Garfield joins long list of Bowling Green students to earn recognition for dedication to community service

For the 12th consecutive academic year, a Bowling Green State University student will serve a year-long term as a Newman Civic Fellow.

The prestigious fellowship, operated by Campus Compact, brings together the next generation of student leaders nominated by their university’s president or chancellor based on their accomplishments and leadership potential.

This year, BGSU junior Lauren Garfield will serve as a Newman Civic Fellow in recognition of her dedication to community service at the University. Through the Chapman Learning Community, the Falcon Food Pantry and the C. Raymond Marvin Center for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement, Garfield has regularly helped promote service on campus, which included coordinating more than 600 volunteers from more than 25 student organizations through the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

A native of Stow, Ohio, Garfield came to BGSU to study business management with a minor in nonprofit administration after a service trip with her church gave her a first taste of what is possible through community service.

“When I went on that trip, I knew I wanted to pursue nonprofit work,” Garfield said. “Coming to college, getting into the Chapman program and getting involved with all service opportunities at BGSU was great because it gave me the chance to build on that type of experience.”

This summer, Garfield spent two months in Indonesia for an internship. As a Newman Civic Fellow, she said she hopes to expand her dedication to service that has proven valuable during her time in college.

“I think service really opens your eyes to the value of humans because it immensely grows your compassion for other people,” she said. "We correlate identities to situations like homelessness or poverty, but through service, you really get to see the reality that these people are humans who have lives, who have so much joy, bring value and are worth creating relationships with."

Rylan Brown, a career tech workforce education major at BGSU who served as a Newman Civic Fellow during the 2025-26 academic year, said the fellowship program presented the opportunity to connect with like-minded students.

As a member of the Sidney A. Ribeau President's Leadership Academy at Bowling Green and president of the BGSU chapter of the Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society, Brown said his year-long correspondence with other fellows – including an in-person visit to Chicago – created lasting collaborations.

“They’re all about creating social change throughout the nation,” Brown said. “During that week in Chicago, we had opportunities to present some things and work in small groups. It was awesome because it gave you the opportunity to pick a social impact that was near to you, then work together with a group of people to help develop ideas or an organization that can help make that social impact.”

Now that Garfield is serving as a Newman Civic Fellow, the University has had a representative in the program every academic year since 2015-16.

As she prepares for the rest of her time in the fellowship, Garfield said she was thankful to be recognized for her service on campus.

"Hearing I was receiving the fellowship pushed my imposter syndrome out of the picture," she said. “The announcement made it feel real. Even though I'm not doing any service for recognition, but because I genuinely love doing it, it helped me understand that my service is creating public good. I am so honored and grateful that BGSU has given me so many service opportunities."