IC News

From the time Camille Brock ’24 was very young, she remembers volunteering in the community. While in elementary school, she donated canned goods to send to the local pantry. At 12 years old, she volunteered at a Special Olympics event in Binghamton, New York.

Her dedication continued when Brock enrolled at IC. As a member of the Park Scholar Program, she has twice served as a leader for the college’s Jumpstart program for incoming students, is currently the president of the student club IC After Dark, and works in the Office of Student Engagement. Off campus, she volunteers at Racker, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for people with disabilities and their families.

For her continued dedication to giving back, Brock has been awarded the Newman Civic Fellowship for the 2023–24 school year by Campus Compact. The fellowship is a prestigious yearlong program that recognizes and supports students based on their potential for public leadership and their work with communities. Throughout the award year, fellows receive learning opportunities that help them develop strategies for positive social change. Brock is the sixth Ithaca College student to earn the fellowship.

“I’m honored that I was awarded this,” Brock said. “I’m excited to learn how other students are civically engaged on their campus and how their college cultivates that for them. I want to see what I can learn from them to take back to Ithaca.”

Bill Ressler, interim advisor for the Park Scholar Program, has witnessed Brock’s ability to empower others to serve and to lead: “I have seen how, in every forum, in every organization, and in every activity, Camille puts the needs and well-being of other people at the forefront of everything she does,” he said. “She leads them to perform inspired acts of service, inspires them to learn more about the world around them, and teaches them to lead others to do and to be their best.”

Brock says that her time in the program has allowed her to develop relationships with community partners, such as Racker, where she has volunteered since 2021. “Having that connection on a deeper level and being able to go weekly is a lot more impactful than, I think, just going like once or twice—not that going once or twice isn’t impactful because helping out wherever you can is always needed. But being able to make the deeper impact through this continued commitment is what’s helped me stay involved,” she said.

At Racker, Brock helps with a variety of tasks including social media content creation and assisting in their fundraising events.

Katie Williams, Racker’s assistant director of community relations, says Brock has become an integral part of the team over the years, contributing her ideas and being reliable and trustworthy. “It can be so easy to get wrapped up in doing the same things every year, and Camille’s input and ideas challenge us to think outside of the box,” Williams said. “Camille needs very little guidance as she is so self-motivated. If she is available to help with an event, she will be there ready to work—even if it’s at 6 a.m. at a venue an hour away. I am so appreciative of the time and energy that she is willing to share with Racker.”