Committed to Service
Before she entered McKendree as a Community Service Scholar in 2013, Acadia Reynolds ’17 spent seven months volunteering as a primary school teacher in Ghana, West Africa,
through the American Field Service. “This eye-opening experience was the foundation
of my passion to become an elementary teacher,” said the elementary education major
from New Orleans, La. “In all its forms, education has become the driving force behind
my service and my goals as a college student.”
Acadia is a 2015 Newman Civic Fellow, one of 201 student leaders nationwide recognized
for their community service by Campus Compact, a coalition of 1,100 college and university
presidents.
At McKendree, she organizes service programs, including an after-school arts enrichment
program that brings children from East St. Louis to campus to participate in a faculty-led
art workshop, eat in the dining hall, visit a residence hall room, see a speaker or
watch a performance - all aimed at helping them expect college as a future possibility.
Committed to social justice issues, as president of the Young Feminists she has coordinated
events to promote awareness of domestic and sexual violence.
