Carroll Students Receive Scholarships for Service to the Community
HELENA – In recognition of exemplary service to their local communities, Carroll College students Riley Anne Dowdy and Alexis Karbowicz were recently included in the second round of winners for the 2021 George M. Dennison Civic Engagement Scholarship by Montana Campus Compact (MTCC). MTCC received additional funds to support the critical work of the George M. Dennison Civic Engagement Scholarship program. As a result, MTCC awarded nine more recipients for spring 2021, bringing the total this year to twenty-five civically engaged college students from across Montana. Carroll students Krupa Patel and Danielle Scanes were awarded in the first round of sixteen.
Riley Anne Dowdy, a junior nursing major from Fort Collins, Colorado, has been involved in Carroll’s Campus Ministry as a peer minister, in addition to helping organize retreats and participating in service opportunities. She has also volunteered at the Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church youth group since her freshman year.
“I go into each day with the goal of being present in every situation and every interaction . . . through being involved in my campus, I have started to see the fruit from being present, being vulnerable, and being honest. My life is not about me, it is about those around me. Through self-less love, I have come to understand who I am,” said Dowdy.
A junior anthrozoology major and theology minor from Portland, Oregon, Alexis Karbowicz has been involved in Carroll’s Campus Ministry through Service Saturdays as well as Headlights trips. Through Headlights, she has had the opportunity to serve in Denver, Colorado as well as Chicago, Illinois. In addition, for most of her freshman and sophomore year, she was heavily involved in Via, the women's faith group on campus.
“In an ideal world, we would support each other and the world we live in; and this does not have to be limited to human communities, we can also see God in His creation. Having deep conversations and building relationships helps make this a reality, and through Service Saturdays, and going to mass, and small groups I can help foster this community on my campus,” said Karbowicz.
Montana Campus Compact a seventeen-member higher education network that advances the public purposes of higher education, awarded the twenty-five students across the state of Montana with MTCC 2021 George M. Dennison Civic Engagement Scholarships. In recognition of exemplary service to their local communities, each winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship award. Half of these additional funds have been secured in partnership with Reach Higher Montana and the Governor’s Office for Community Service, while the other half are matched by the winner’s institution as part of their commitment to civic and community engagement through Campus Compact.