From the president
Celestina Hertz channels her compassion for humanity through civic engagement through leadership positions connecting our campus with the greater community. She was recently named the representative of the Milwaukee-area university chapters for Y.E.S. (Youth Empowered in the Struggle) under the non-profit Voces De La Frontera. As part of Y.E.S. Hertz engages in efforts to raise awareness, participation and advocacy for immigrant rights including the annual MAY DAY Protests in Milwaukee to end deportation and detention camps. Hertz is also a Democracy Fellow for the Campus Vote Project where she plans events focused on non-partisan voting education and registration on our campus. She is forging collaborations between Alverno’s Student Government, Y.E.S and a new campus student organization focused on non-partisan campus civic engagement. Hertz has an interest in the juvenile correction system, school social work, foster care and adoption focused on how macrolevel policy impacts the individual.
Personal Statement
I became a member of the Thea Bowman Institute Leadership and Excellence, a full tuition program to advance the potential and experience of Black women student leaders as change agents, at the beginning of my college journey. Ultimately, what gravitated me toward working with organizations such as the Bowman Institute, Y.E.S and Campus Vote, was an undeniable calling and need to advocate. Through the Bowman Institute, I have taken leadership roles such as facilitating workshops around race and equity with our campus School Sisters of Saint Francis congregation as well as collaborating with other Bowman scholars to present findings and research to Kohls Corporate around what efforts can be done in their company to elevate and have constant representation of black voices and presence. As someone with so many intersecting identities, I am able to pull from a wealth of knowledge and personal insight as to where we could do better as a society. Though my introduction to civic leadership began in high school, college is where that passion grew and where I was given the tools to hone my skills.