From the president
Lauren Parker, a third-year student at the University of Houston-Downtown, is a student leader active in issues impacting justice-involved and formerly justice-involved individuals. Passionate about inmate rights and the rights of formerly justice-involved individuals, Lauren feels the best way to address these issues is by encouraging people to vote to create social-change. She actively advocates for everyone to vote and educates them on issues impacting these populations. Lauren has collected signatures to get judges on the ballot who show compassion and concern for truly rehabilitating individuals who find themselves in the criminal justice system. She believes that encouraging everyone to vote for someone who seeks to rehabilitate individuals rather than just punishing them is the best way to address recidivism rates. Lauren was even awarded a grant to circulate an awareness campaign about the challenges formerly justice-involved individuals face; the project was entitled Seeking a Second Chance. As a member of the UHD Honors Program, Lauren has led conversations about inmate rights to help educate her peers on the treatment of individuals in our prison system. She has also conducted individual research projects about reproductive healthcare in women’s prisons and Eighth Amendment violations in our prison system.
Personal Statement
Since I was a young child, my parents have instilled in me the importance of helping others. So naturally volunteering and service has been a major part of my life. To help combat the stray pet crisis impacting the Houston area, I’ve volunteered with a cat rescue for three years where I help with everyday needs of the animals/special events. I have served as community service coordinator for Alpha Phi Sigma; I organized several service projects in my role. I now serve as Chapter President, and I continue to focus our chapter efforts on service—I have organized an Angel Tree project to help students in need within our college. I established a relationship with Crime Stoppers Houston so APS can aid the organization with events. I have also organized collection drives for the Sunshine Fund Cat Rescue, Star of Hope, and Houston Areas Women’s Shelter. I have used these drives to spread awareness about homelessness, the stray pet crisis, and domestic violence to our University Community. I believe that the best way to combat these issues is by making people aware of the problem. Awareness is the greatest weapon we have to fight the root causes of social issues.