Undergraduate Melanie C. Kiernan receives North Carolina community impact student award

Melanie C. Kiernan

Melanie C. Kiernan

BLACKSBURG, Va., Dec. 7, 2010 – Melanie C. Kiernan of Little Rock, Ark., a senior majoring in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech,  recently received North Carolina Campus Compact’s fifth Community Impact Student Award.

Kiernan was one of 34 college students across the state of North Carolina who received the award for making significant, innovative contributions to their campus’ efforts to address local community needs. Awardees also received a Volunteer Certificate of Appreciation from North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue.

Kiernan was recognized for her leadership nationally in service activities. She is chair of the executive board for the Campus Coalition of YMCAs in addition to being a Youth Service America Youth Council member.

At Virginia Tech community, she is a program leader for the YMCA at Virginia Tech Alternative Breaks program; she will be leading an international trip to the Dominican Republic in January 2011. In addition, she coordinates and facilitates service-learning experiences for two different living-learning communities, the Residential Leadership Community and the Students Engaging and Responding through Volunteer Experiences program.

The awards were presented at two North Carolina Campus Compact Student conferences held in October and November that brought together more than 300 college students and guests.

he College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech includes programs in the arts, humanities, social and human sciences, and education. The college seeks to illuminate human experience and expression by creating works of lasting scholarly, cultural, and aesthetic value; empower individuals to engage critically with the complexities of a diverse, global society; and foster the inquiry, innovation, and growth that produce individual and social transformation.