President Wohlpart selects two students for Student Civic Leadership Awards

At Central Washington University, we know that our students have the power to move the world forward, one good deed at a time.

Every school participating in the Washington Campus Coalition selects two students each year for the President’s Student Civic Leadership Award. Recipients are then considered for the Governor’s Student Civic Leadership awards.

This year, CWU President Jim Wohlpart selected a senior law and justice and political science major Michelle Carrillo and senior math education major Jonathan Fritz for this year’s honor, following a round of nominations by faculty and staff.

Michelle Carrillo

“I’ve wanted to be an immigration attorney since high school, and these have all felt like important steps on that path,” she said. “Growing up as my parents’ oldest daughter, I saw their struggles, which really pushed me to find a way to give back to both them and our community.”

With a clear goal in mind, Carrillo pursued her studies and mostly kept to herself during her first couple of years in Ellensburg. Then she heard about an opportunity to visit her hometown of Olympia through Student Lobby Day, an annual effort to make student voices heard at the state legislative level.

“I was struck by how much the student voice can impact legislation, which I never knew was possible,” she said. “It was my own peers that influenced me to pursue civic engagement like this, and with their support, I ended up running for student government and getting involved with the state Legislature.”

From that moment on, Carrillo threw herself into the work, frequently providing testimony before the Legislature before serving as ASCWU’s director of governmental affairs and student liaison to the Legislature, both positions she has now held for two years. In her spare time, Carrillo also represents APOYO in Olympia, and dedicates time to plan events like the Student Engagement Hub on election day, among other activities.

Through it all, she has been grateful to her peers and mentors who helped her find her voice within civic engagement.

“I really just want to thank everybody that took me in, and the university for giving me this opportunity,” Carrillo said. “I hope to be a spark for another student like me to realize their power and their passion for these issues that affect us all.”

Carrillo was nominated for the Student Civic Leadership Award by Student Leadership, Involvement, and Community Engagement (SLICE) Interim Director Lola Gallagher and SLICE Program Manager for Community Engagement Jessical Woodall. In her nomination letter, Gallagher detailed the many acts of leadership that have put Carrillo where she is today.

“Michelle Carrillo has been very active in pursuing pathways and solutions for her fellow students and the community as a whole,” Gallagher wrote. “She has established and maintained ongoing dialogue and working relationships with campus, local, and state leaders. I have seen her ability to articulate issues and recommend actionable steps continue to grow, and her passion for this work is evident through her consistent engagement.”

Jonathan Fritz

“Project-based learning really speaks to me, and I know it will speak to my future students, too,” said Fritz, who grew up in Pasco, WA. “For all the same reasons I like to get out and do stuff in my community, I know my students will learn better through applying their skills in real-life contexts.”

Fritz’s appetite for learning extends far beyond the classroom, and that approach has driven him to join a broad variety of student clubs and organizations, including Teach STEM club, the First Generation Student Organization, and the Central Mariachi group, in which he plays the trumpet.

“I like meeting new people, and I like staying busy,” Fritz said. “Being able to help set up and run events — particularly events that help so many people — has been really rewarding.”

While he finds joy in the simple act of helping others, Fritz’s extraordinary level of engagement with his peers and the Ellensburg community also has provided him with a variety of life experiences, which he sees as essential to running a healthy classroom.

“As a teacher, you see many students from many different backgrounds in your classroom,” he said. “It’s one thing to try to get to know your students personally, but to really reach them where they’re at, you have to get to know the community around them, too. Once we have shared experiences, it’s a lot easier to connect.”

When he’s not seeking out new perspectives, Fritz serves as a student ambassador and tour guide for Campus Visits, where he passes on his passion for engagement to visiting students and coworkers alike. He was nominated for the Student Civic Leadership Award by his supervisor, Brittany Churchwell, thanks to his unwavering dedication to both the university and the people who call it home.

“Jonathan Fritz is the heart of CWU, if it had a heart,” Churchwell wrote in her nomination letter. “Not only does he keep our campus visits office running, he also participates in multiple clubs and organizations across. Jonathan is always on call, steps in at any given moment to help, and his enthusiasm for post-secondary education is infectious. He is kind, caring, patient, dedicated, loyal, and most of all, a friend to everyone he encounters.”

At CWU, Fritz has found community from all walks of life, and he looks forward to carrying those connections with him when he graduates in June.

“The people you surround yourself with have a huge impact on what you accomplish, and the community I’ve found here has really influenced my outlook on life,” he said. “Letting them bring me along to clubs and saying yes to the opportunities they’ve offered me has broadened my horizons.”