Source: Olivia Collins, 785-532-6502, ocollins@k-state.edu

Friday, Jan. 30, 2009

K-STATE AMERICAN HUMANICS STUDENTS EARN NATIONAL RECOGNITIONS

MANHATTAN -- Two Kansas State University students in the American Humanics/nonprofit leadership focus of K-State's leadership studies minor have been recognized with special honors for their leadership efforts.

Bridget Howland, senior in marketing, Fairway, has received a $2,500 scholarship to attend the Institute on Philanthropy and Voluntary Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., while Molly Hamm, senior in English literature and secondary education, Shawnee, was selected as one of two Next Generation Nonprofit Leaders to participate in the closing ceremony of the American Humanics Management Institute, Jan. 6, in Indianapolis.

Howland, who was named a Next Generation Nonprofit Leader recipient in fall 2008, is currently completing a yearlong internship with the Sunflower CASA Project in Manhattan. She is fundraising chair for K-State's American Humanics Student Association and is a member of the K-State Marketing Club. She is active in her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, and has been an after-school tutor at Manhattan's Woodrow Wilson Elementary School. Howland is a member of the planning committee for the March of Dimes Flint Hills March for Babies and is a Careers for the Common Good AmeriCorps member.

The Institute of Philanthropy and Voluntary Service is academically focused on how the history, economics and politics of a democracy are affected by voluntary service. Students attending the institute explore the ethics, practice and role of philanthropy in America and examine the practical and theoretical questions surrounding the nonprofit sector. This mission is accomplished through classes, an internship experience and a variety of leadership activities, including guest lectures, site briefings, panel discussions and the institute's philanthropy project.

Hamm's role in the closing ceremony of the American Humanics Management Institute was speaking about her summer 2008 internship with The People Speak program of the United Nations Foundation in Washington, D.C. A primary focus of the internship was the preparation and execution of the first-ever Youth Leadership Summit on climate change for more than 150 students from around the world. The summit was in New York City in July 2008.

As part of the closing ceremony, Hamm shared the platform with national nonprofit executives and other award recipients being honored at the conference. More than 1,000 people attended the conference, including college and university students, alumni, faculty and staff, and nonprofit executives and volunteers. The 2009 management institute was the largest in the event's 36-year history.

The American Humanics institute is a capstone experience for those seeking national certification in nonprofit leadership and management from American Humanics, according to Olivia Collins, director of American Humanics at K-State. Hamm attended the event with 14 other students in the American Humanics/nonprofit leadership focus offered through the leadership studies minor from K-State's School of Leadership Studies.

Hamm, who has a secondary major in international studies, is involved with a variety of organizations and activities. She is the founder of the university's Greeks Going Green initiative and is active with the Student Governing Association as a student senator and has been chair of several student government committees. She is president of the K-State Student Foundation and is a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, Mortar Board senior honor society and the American Humanics Student Association. She also serves on K-State's Panhellenic Council, is the honors program representative on the Teacher Education Advisory Council and is a founding member of the K-State Student Sustainability Coalition.

Hamm has served as a AmeriCorps-Kansas Community Youth Service Corps member; a K-State Volunteer Center of Manhattan Start Up Team member; Teach for America campus recruiter liaison; United Nations Environment Programme "Kick the Carbon Habit" Campaign Youth Network representative; K-State Child Development Center advisory board secretary; and has interned in the Kansas House of Representatives.

In addition to her Next Generation Nonprofit Leader award, Hamm has been recognized with K-State's Richard and Marjorie Morse Public Policy Scholarship and was competitively selected to attend the Clinton Global Initiative University in New Orleans in the Energy and Climate Change category. She has received the K-State Greek Woman of the Year Award and currently serves on the planning committee for the IMPACT National Student Conference on Service, Advocacy and Social Action.