The following story originally appeared on the Civic & Community Engagement website. – Ed.

With the walkways cleared of snow and buildings reopened, William & Mary hosted the Active Citizens Conference on Feb. 22.

This annual event, run by Civic & Community Engagement, brought together more than 75 students to learn about community engagement. The 2025 theme was civic identity: understanding ourselves as agents of positive change.

The morning began with remarks from Kara Park ’26, who won the university’s John Lewis Social Justice Award. She shared her own civic identity development and her early struggles with what counts as active citizenship.

“Because I have grown in my civic identity, I am better able to see these connections and realize how I can make change in the here and now,” she said. “I encourage all of you today to reflect critically about where you are in understanding your civic identity and to consider taking a wider view to appreciate all the work you do in the places you are now.

“Whether you are here today to start your journey to civic identity or to share your wisdom about what you have learned in finding it, there are opportunities for all of us to expand how we view ourselves as active citizens.”

Students then chose from nine conference sessions, all with student presenters. James Madison University students presented on the community-collaborator continuum. AmeriCorps members shared their national service experiences and Campus Vote Project held a roundtable on voter engagement. George Washington University introduced a framework of Authentic Hope, and Washington & Lee presented on language and identity in their ESOL program.

Students also connected outside of workshops, participating in a morning dialogue, sharing a meal and post-lunch reflection, and providing shout-outs for lessons learned during the closing program.

Before leaving, students identified their active citizenship goals, including continued issue education, consistent meaningful service, increased political involvement, engaging with those who do not share their views and leading with empathy, respect and hope.

“It was a wonderful day, and our students came away from it with great ideas and were excited to keep doing this work,” said Jeremy Larochelle ’01, now a faculty member at the University of Mary Washington.