From the president
Through his efforts to promote greater social consciousness and civic engagement among college students, Connor Diaz -- a junior studying history and law, criminal justice, and society -- honors the legacy of Campus Compact Founder Frank Newman and aligns with the values of the University of Pittsburgh. Connor is the outreach and engagement coordinator for CivWiz, a mobile gaming app designed to foster civic literacy across academic disciplines. He also demonstrates a desire to cultivate civic-mindedness by serving as an undergraduate research mentor overseeing five research assistants on the CivWiz team. On a personal level, as a child of immigrant parents and as the first of his immediate family members to attend a four-year university, Connor is particularly motivated to help more first-generation college students become socially conscious and civically engaged. In sum, through his continued work on the CivWiz app and by becoming a Newman Civic Fellow, he hopes to foster real social change in both academic and immigrant communities.
Personal Statement
Social healing begins with learning. This belief is core to my academic pursuits and is the driving force behind the mobile app CivWiz, which was created in collaboration with community partners and student organizations to cultivate and evaluate civic competencies of college students within their communities and across academic disciplines, where I serve as the outreach and engagement coordinator and for which I helped develop the content utilized by the app’s users. Our team recognizes that education, especially at the university level, comes with inherent barriers that may limit broad student participation. This is especially true in the realm of civics education where classes are rarely offered and grow increasingly expensive with each passing year. In my lived experience as a child of immigrant parents, and the first of my immediate family to attend a four-year university, I have become keenly aware of the barriers that prohibit individuals from becoming socially conscious and civically engaged. Through my work on the CivWiz app, and in my future professional endeavors, I hope to create a tool that everyone—from students to immigrant parents—can use to enact real social change and healing in and with their communities.