Civic Leadership Program: Fellows: 2005 Civic Leadership FellowsThe 2005 Civic Leadership Fellows
Sarah Castle (senior; political science). Reared in Denver, Sarah came to UIUC in 2002, recruited to play wheelchair basketball and swim competitively. A member of the 2000 and 2004 Paralympics Swim Teams that competed in Sydney and Athens, she won a silver medal in the 100-meter breast-stroke in 2000 and finished 4th in Athens. She also broke and held the world record in the 1500-meter freestyle from 2000-2002.
Sarah is currently a member of the University of Illinois Women"s Wheelchair Basketball team and a member of the 2005 United States Women"s Wheelchair Basketball team that won the Gold Medal at the North America"s Cup in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in November 2005.
Sarah also advocates and raises funds. In high school, Sarah advocated?successfully?to allow athletes with disabilities the opportunity to compete in the Colorado High School Athletics Association (CHSAA) in order to. For the first time, during the 2001-2002 season, CHSAA allowed swimmers with disabilities to compete in the Coach"s Invitational and the Colorado State Meet exhibition events.
Sarah led the 24-Hour Wheelchair Basketball Marathon, which was the most successful fundraising event in the program"s history. Sarah is now organizing a fundraiser that will pit the men"s and women"s wheelchair basketball teams against the UI varsity men"s basketball team, with the latter also playing from wheelchairs. Should be great fun and a great fundraiser for disabled athletes.
Sarah speaks across the country to raise awareness about people with disabilities and athletics for people with disabilities. She is currently training to become a member of the 2006 US Women"s Wheelchair Basketball Team. Sarah Castle
scastle@uiuc.edu
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Brian Dodds (junior; English Literature/Political Science) is an editor with Al Alim, the UIUC Muslim student newspaper. Caucasian and Christian, Brian is the only non-Muslim on the 30-member staff of the newspaper. In elementary school in smalltown Bourbonnais, Illinois, Brian befriended a Muslim pupil, who now edits the newspaper where Brian is also an editor.
Brian has a passion to increase understanding across Muslim and Western communities. To that end, Brian is studying Arabic and has conversational skills in that language.
Brian is also an officer and member in the Potted Meat Comedy Sketch Group on campus. Brian Dodds
bdodds@uiuc.edu
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Allison Getty (junior; political science and speech communication) is political director of the UIUC College Democrats. She has worked in three political campaigns, for successful candidates for mayor of Urbana, Illinois state senator and member of Congress.
An accomplished public speaker, Allison has won numerous college speech contest awards, and she plans to do political speech writing and then pursue elective office.
Allison is also a member of Amnesty International and Habitat for Humanity. One of her interests is traveling and learning about other cultures. This past summer she lived in Spain, and over winter break she traveled to Mexico City with the Civic Leadership Program. Allison also enjoys reading. Among her favorite books: Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky's A Woman's Place.
Allison looks forward to interning for a political campaign or incumbent where she hopes to learn more about political speech writing. Allison Getty
agetty2@uiuc.edu
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Nick Klitzing (junior; political science) is a member of the 12-member University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Elected by students on the UIUC campus, and designated by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to be a full-voting member of the board, Nick has been working closely with UI president B. Joseph White and UIUC chancellor Richard Herman on issues of student accessibility and undergraduate quality across the three university campuses.
Nick has worked closely with two Republican candidates for the state legislature. He is vice president of the UIUC Interfraternity Council and an officer in Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.
A James Scholar, Nick also, somehow, finds time to work at a campus pub. After law school, Nick plans to pursue a career in government and politics. Nick Klitzing
nklitzin@uiuc.edu
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Merry Marwig (junior; international studies with concentrations in governance and German affairs). A plucky, determined young woman, Merry spent her first summer after high school in the suburbs selling door-to-door in North Carolina, where she learned a lot about people and about herself.
With her interest in foreign affairs, she hopes to complete an internship in Germany next spring working with either the United States embassy or the German federal government. On campus, you'll find Merry working on university military issues in a student organization affiliated with the U.S. Air Force. She also created and heads a charitable group that supports multiple sclerosis research.
Merry enjoys jazz and classical music and has played the violin for 11 years. A new interest of hers is examining the relationships media corporations play in American society, through books such as Robert McChesney's Problem of the Media and David Bollier"s Brand Name Bullies. Merry is an avid Texas Hold 'Em Poker enthusiast and up for a game any day.
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/mmarwig/CivicLeadership/Resume.htm Merry Marwig
mmarwig@uiuc.edu
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Kate Parkhurst (junior; political science) was awarded unusual early admission by the UI College of Law and plans to earn a joint JD-MA in political science and civic leadership. She is the campus nominee for the prestigious national Truman Fellowship.
Kate became hooked on life in Washington, D.C. during a spring 2005 internship with US Congressman Ray LaHood. She plans to return to The District and find a position where she can brainstorm new public policies. To this effect, she has recently developed an interest in public sector economics. Though many of Kate"s favorite books, such as Jim Crowe"s Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision by Peter Irons and Truman by David McCullough, relate to her interest in government, her copy of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe seems to have suffered the worst abuse over the years.
Kate"s friends are often surprised to learn that before she discovered political science, she wanted to be a stage manager. Kate worked on more than thirty theatrical productions in two years during high school, and she hopes no one ever finds the videotape of her one on-stage experience as a leading actress.
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/parkhurs/CivicLeadership/Resume.htm?uniq=-9ow2o6 Kate Parkhurst
parkhurs@uiuc.edu
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Paul Richardson is a 22-year-old graduate student in political science and civic leadership. He is originally from Bradley, Illinois, where he has managed several successful county board and mayoral campaigns. He is currently advising candidates in several county-wide and state elections. In early 2006 he founded IgniteIllinois, a Kankakee County based political action organization that is working to stimulate youth interest in state and local politics. In January 2007 Paul began work as the first ever intern to award winning Springfield journalist and pundit Rich Miller at The Capitol Fax publishing company. He did extensive work covering the 2007 General Assembly session, with exclusive interviews with each new freshman legislator, statehouse caucus leaders, and constitutional officers. He continues to work for The Capitol Fax Blog via campus with daily state news summaries and political commentary.
As an undergraduate Paul was involved extensively with the Illini Union. As a sophomore he was elected to oversee the largest student programming and advising body on campus managing $500,000 yearly in programming operations. At the end of that term he was honored with the 2004 Weinstein Award for Outstanding Illini Union Board member. In 2006 Paul was chosen as one of only three Director's Office Administrative Interns in the Illini Union. He received the 2006 John and Inez Reeder Leadership Scholarship and 2006 Excel Leadership Award for his work in that role.
Upon completion of the Civic Leadership Program, Paul plans to attend law school in Chicago.
In his free time he enjoys rooting for Illinois sports teams, working out, cooking, and reading.
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/prichard/CivicLeadership/Paul%20Richardson%20resume%20%282%29%20-%20CLP%20website.htm Paul Richardson
Prichard@uiuc.edu
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Ahsan Rizvi (junior; industrial engineering and philosophy) co-authored and presented a scholarly paper this past year on 'Mathematical Modeling for International Conflict Resolution' with two distinguished political scientists on campus. A native of Karachi, Pakistan, Ahsan plans to return to his native land to reform the feudal political system that dominates the country.
When the terrible earthquake recently devastated much of South Asia, Ahsan immediately embarked upon leading a fundraising campaign on campus and in Illinois, which raised $80,000 in a few days.
As social chair and member of the executive board of the Pakistan Student Association, Ahsan is currently working on a project to develop a lecture series of distinguished speakers who will focus on the political problems badgering Third World countries. Ahsan also plays on the International Soccer Club, of which he is an officer.
Ahsan Rizvi
rizvi@uiuc.edu
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Ulrich Shannon (junior; political science and African-American studies) plans to return to his neighborhood of Austin on the West Side of Chicago to develop a career in law and elective politics. This passion for politics may be driven by the fact that Ulrich is one of only two of his 60 grammar school classmates who is in college today.
On the basis of his many leadership roles and debate accomplishments while at Lane Technical High School in Chicago, Ulrich received a prestigious Posse Foundation Leadership and Academic Scholarship worth $100,000 to attend the University of Illinois.
This past summer, Ulrich worked as an organizer for the Service Employees International Union in Chicago, enlisting union memberships in the health care field.
A member of the House Arrest 2 Championship Dance Team, Ulrich learned the basics of 'white dancing' from other Civic Leadership Fellows during the Fellows" recent trip to Mexico City to study politics in the country.
Ulrich Shannon
ushannon@uiuc.edu
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Pei-Yuan Tsou (junior; pre-med biology/psychology) is a native of Taipei, Taiwan. Pei is fluent in three dialects of Chinese as well as in English, and she continues development of her French language skills, as per the Fall 2005 semester, when she lived with a French family as part of her study abroad in Montpelier, France.
Pei arrived in the U.S. from Taiwan in 2003 to begin her freshman year at UIUC. She immediately became involved in the Global Crossroads Program on campus and is now on the board of directors of TEAM (Together Encourage the Appreciation of Multiculturalism), a campus organization.
Because of her role in global issues and a straight-A academic record, Pei received a prestigious International Exchange Scholarship in 2004, which included intensive study on campus and three weeks of discussions in Malaysia with political and governmental leaders in that nation. Pei-Yuan Tsou
tsou@uiuc.edu
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Samantha Warren (junior; political science, minoring in sociology). With a passion for human rights and a taste for politics, Samantha plans to use her talents to affect policy on a national and international scale. In 2005, for example, Sam worked with the World Council of Churches permanent ambassador to the United Nations on the WCC Young Adult Ecumenical Forum.
A big-picture person, 'Sam' is now one of seven students from across the country planning the 2006 Young Adult Ecumenical Forum on Globalization and Violence, to enable young adults from around the world to engage in dialogue and actively seek solutions.
On campus, Samantha serves as the Area Coordinator of Apartment Ministry for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and as a member of the administrative board of the Krannert Center Student Association. She served as co-director of children"s programming for a mission trip in spring 2005 to the Dominican Republic.
Currently on her list of recommended books are God's Politics by Jim Wallis and Blue like Jazz by Don Miller. A long time student of religion and its role in governance, she looks forward to a lifetime of mixing the two, although she's also working to find something she'll be able to discuss at the dinner table. In her free time she enjoys soaking in the music of Miles Davis or practicing her Salsa moves.
Resume: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/srwarren/CivicLeadership/Resume.htm Samantha Warren
srwarren@uiuc.edu
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