Andrea Cheah ’27 has received a Newman Civic Fellowship, an honor for which students are nominated by their president “based on their potential for public leadership and their work with communities.”

Campus Compact created the yearlong fellowship program in 2011 in honor of its co-founder, Frank Newman, a dedicated advocate, among other passions, of educating the next generation on civic engagement and service. Today, the organization has a partner network of over 300 campuses spanning across the United States and Mexico, from which fellows are chosen each year.

“I found out I was nominated for the fellowship last semester,” says Cheah, an international student from Singapore double majoring in sociology & anthropology and psychology. “It was a pleasant surprise.”

Cheah is no stranger to civic engagement. At home in Singapore, she often found herself involved in a variety of projects dedicated to improving communities around her. For instance, taking a gap year before coming to Swarthmore, she co-founded a nonprofit tutoring program with her high school friends to help students keep up with their classes. She also interned at an international school, where she worked with students with neurodevelopmental challenges.

On campus at Swarthmore, Cheah continues to be involved in advocacy and civic service. Whether she is helping international students navigate uncertainties or advocating for environmental justice, she enjoys doing her part in what she playfully describes as “seemingly random bits of community.”

Her belief in social responsibility “to make sure other people in your community don’t get left behind,” she said, is the thread that weaves together her varied efforts in service. As a Newman Civic Fellow, Cheah will receive virtual mentorship and training to create strategies for supporting her passions for civic engagement. She will also have the opportunity to receive mini-grants to fund projects contributing to social change.

Cheah will attend a national conference in Chicago this October, joining just over 150 fellows coming from across the U.S. and Mexico.

“It’s a rare opportunity to come together with students from diverse backgrounds to learn and bond over shared commitments to issues and communities we care about,” she says.

Today, Cheah’s focus is centered on the welfare of migrant domestic workers.

“A lot of migrant domestic workers back home are physically and psychologically abused,” she says, “but it happens behind closed doors.”

Cheah hopes to use the fellowship opportunity as a stepping stone toward learning the nuances of that situation and becoming more actively engaged. Core to her commitment to civic engagement is the belief that it’s never too late to take action.

“Being civically engaged isn’t a personality type,” she says. “It’s every person’s responsibility — so don’t be afraid to show that you care.”