2018 John C. Bogle '51 Fellows in Civic Service

Twenty-eight Princeton students named 2018 Bogle Fellows in Civic Service

Twenty-eight first-year students have been named 2018 John C. Bogle ’51 Fellows in Civic Service.

Princeton's Pace Center for Civic Engagement has named 28 first-year students from across the world as John C. Bogle ’51 Fellows in Civic Service for 2018.

The Bogle Fellowship, now in its third year, offers first- year students the opportunity to develop a service or civic engagement-related project or internship and directly connect that summer experience to their academic work or career interests. All Bogle Fellows are a part of Service Focus, the new University program bridging service and learning across the first two years of the undergraduate experience.

This year’s cohort represents the breadth of service at Princeton. Fellows will be interning with political leaders in Washington, D.C., exploring urban development in Cincinnati, studying the impact of gentrification in Princeton, and more. Bogle Fellows explore and address issues they have identified in society through a variety of approaches, such as policy, advocacy, research, direct service or community activism. 

“Coming into Princeton, I was certain that I wanted to study government policy with a focus on education inequality,” said Class of 2021 member Michaela Daniel, who will intern with the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, where she will focus on expanding the organization’s sensory-friendly education program. “Yet now I am on a path to concentrate in Near Eastern studies, quite a hard turn in concentration. I look forward to the year-long program which would help me to build skills and relationships with other passionate students who want to make a meaningful impact, but who are also perhaps unsure of how their path at Princeton will lead to such an impact.”

The Bogle Fellowhsip was established in 2016 with a gift from John C. Bogle Jr. and his wife, Lynn Bogle, in honor of John's father, John (Jack) C. Bogle of the Class of 1951, one of the first supporters of the Pace Center

John C. Bogle '51 with Bogle Fellows

John (Jack) C. Bogle of the Class of 1951 (first row, center) meets with some of the students who were recently named John C. Bogle ’51 Fellows in Civic Service. The Bogle Fellowship offers first-year students the opportunity to develop a service project or internship and connect it to their academic work.

The 2018 Bogle Fellows include the following Class of 2021 students: Jack Aiello, Tobi Ayeni, Elizabeth Chittenden, Grace Collins, Michaela Daniel, Sarah Elkordy, Lindsay Emim, Julius  Foo, Carter Gipson, Amanda Harris, Rachel Hazan, Justin Hinson, Victor Hua, Jimin  Kang, Shafaq Khan, Allen Kong, Sophia Marusic, Grace Masback, Nadin Mukhtar, Temitope Oshinowo, Scott  Overbey, MaryAnn Placheril, Remy Reya, Lutfah Subair, Leila Ullmann, Adia  Weaver, Isla Weber and Ella Whitfield.

Before leaving campus, fellows develop relationships with one another as well as with faculty members whose insight they’ve sought out. Supported by this community of engaged thought-partners, fellows embark on their summer service experience with a greater depth of understanding both of the issues they will be addressing, and the implications for their own trajectory at Princeton. 

“As a first-year, I’ve felt overwhelmed many times trying to balance my ambitions with all that happens in day-to-day life at Princeton, especially in the classroom,” said Ayeni, who will explore how academic performance differs by race and class at Regis High School in New York City. “[This is] an opportunity to focus on one ambition and then be able to fully reflect on, and evaluate, what it means for me in the larger context of my time at Princeton and my life. I look forward to being part of a community of people motivated by the desire to impact social change in whatever medium they choose.”

Upon returning to campus, fellows will meet monthly in small groups to reflect upon their experience and think through the implications in their larger Princeton experience. Together they will work to develop a service project that reflects their learning and growth as individuals and as a community. 

“I hope to connect with like-minded classmates who also want to be civically engaged while simultaneously learning about their diverse interests,” said Khan, who plans to work in New York City with an organization that provides low-income New Yorkers with legal assistance. “I also want to have discussions about bigger issues with them. This includes discussing how to challenge fellow classmates to explore volunteering and life outside the so-called 'Orange Bubble.'"

By engaging in this yearlong group experience, fellows learn about themselves, the communities they serve and the paths they can take to make a positive impact throughout their time at Princeton and beyond. 

“I am new to service,” said Foo, who will intern with Apex for Youth, an organization that provides mentorship and education for under-served Asian and immigrant youth in New York City, focusing on the organization’s dual-language summer camp. “Service is deeply rooted in the culture here at Princeton and I want to be more aware of it and therefore more involved in it. The holistic program will offer me the chance to become a more empathetic and reasonable person and the chance to learn a lot more about service as a whole.”