Amy Belfer
Elon University
Amy Belfer, a second year student at Elon University, is a student leader majoring in Human Services Studies and minoring in Poverty and Social Justice, Spanish and Theatre Arts. She is a student office assistant at the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, a Periclean Scholar, and the RA, founder, and director of the Hall for Change, a Social Justice Living-Learning community. In addition, Amy volunteers as the first Director of Human Rights for Elon Volunteers. Amy serves as a service captain for Habitat for Humanity, Social Justice Co-Chair for Hillel, a campus voter registration leader, a coordinator for Oxfam and active member of the local NAACP chapter. She has volunteered extensively with Positive Attitude Youth Center in Burlington and tutored children participating in the "It Takes A Village" Project. Amy spent last summer as an intern with St. Joseph's Carpenter Society, a Community Development and Affordable Housing Non-Profit. Amy is an individual who engages in collaborative action with others from campus and surrounding communities in order to address issues of inequality and create long-term social change.
Personal Statement
"I firmly believe in using intersectional activism to partner with the community to facilitate grass roots social change. By empowering others through recognizing their strengths, I work to help people to help themselves. Through my work with people who are refugees, teaching theatre class at a youth center, Habitat for Humanity, the Alamance NAACP, and various other organizations, I have learned to effectively partner with marginalized groups and speak with them, not for them. I draw inspiration from our local activist community and from the members of the Hall for Change, a living-learning community committed to social justice that I founded and currently direct. Through increasing community engagement and opening dialogues, I work to break down negative stigmas between the Elon community and the local Burlington community. I value reframing how our society undergoes service work and humanitarian aid to ensure it is local, sustainable, and that all voices are being heard. By uniting people with similar passions, I aim to ensure that in our fight for equality and equity, we are inclusive and accessible. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of recognizing our common humanity and standing up for the rights of people of all races, religions, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic statuses, immigration statuses and other identity groups."
