UNC Asheville Student Aryelle Jacobsen Awarded Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellowship

By UNC Asheville

April 3^rd, 2020

UNC Asheville sophomore and Asheville native Aryelle Jacobsen is used to looking at community engagement from unique angles. In fact, she created her own major, entrepreneurship and community justice, combining sociology, economics, and health and wellness courses in order to do just that; and her activism and commitment to community has earned her a place as a 2020-21 Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellow. But the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption of everyday life has forced Jacobsen to get creative in order to find ways to still, in her words, “show up for community.”

Aryelle Jacobsen speaking about "A is for Awkward" at the Buncombe County School Board.

Jacobsen’s community engagement started in middle school, when she wrote and published an ABC book, A is for Awkward: A Guide for Surviving Middle School. The book addresses topics like vulnerability and stress. “It’s built for teachers, older kids, parents, to further the conversation about these topics,” Jacobsen said. “It’s also meant for kids to read on their own.”

In high school Jacobsen took her first steps into activism in her role as the head organizer for Asheville’s March for Our Lives, in response to the 2018 mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The march in Asheville drew thousands of demonstrators.

Now, nearing the end of her second year in college, Jacobsen is looking for ways to continue working in the community, and to further develop her understanding of justice. The Campus Compact Newman Fellowship will help her achieve those goals. Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides students with training and resources that nurture their assets and passions and help them develop strategies for social change. The yearlong program, named for Campus Compact founder Frank Newman, includes virtual learning opportunities and networking as part of a national network of engaged student leaders and an optional in-person convening.

The Newman Civic Fellowship recognizes and supports community-committed students who are changemakers and public problem-solvers at Campus Compact member institutions. Fellows are nominated by their president or chancellor on the basis of their potential for public leadership.

“I’m still building what justice means to me, but I think what justice is, is showing up in the ways that I can, using the privileges I have to elevate the community voices, and follow the community voices that are often pushed to the side or disregarded,” Jacobsen said. “Which I think is what true allyship looks like.”

Working Together, Apart

Proximity—being physically in the places and with the people in the community—Jacobsen said, is vitally important to community justice. It’s an idea she took to heart after hearing Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy, speak on campus in 2019.

Jacobsen has found “the power of proximity” in her work with the Marvelous Math Club, led by UNC Asheville faculty and students in partnership with Asheville City Schools and the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville. In the Marvelous Math Club, students living in the Pisgah View housing community, known in the club as Math Leaders, work with volunteers, called Math Champions, to complete homework, play math games, and learn leadership skills.

“It is the greatest,” Jacobsen said. “It’s shifting this paradigm of how we connect with students, particularly in the subject of math, but it’s really all about relationship building. The goal is to get one-on-one, because that’s where we see so much love is built.”

Jacobsen also works at the Key Center on campus, where she serves as an engagement advisor, helping to create opportunities for UNC Asheville students to engage with K-12 students. In the local community, she is the regional manager and coordinator for Camp Girl Boss, a leadership and entrepreneurship camp for girls, and she also works with the In Real Life after school program with Asheville City Schools.

But “stay home” orders and social distancing measures in place as a result of COVID-19 has changed everything, including how community engagement happens when proximity is no longer a possibility.

“I think now is the time for emergent strategy,” Jacobsen said. “It’s the time of, ‘the plan did not work out, so what is a more realistic route for us to take?’”

In the Marvelous Math Club, that’s meant finding new ways to make connections and show support.

“We’ve done things like we are calling Math Champions and we’ll check in with them, ask them how they’re doing, make sure that everything is OK, and we’ll ask if they’re still willing to support Marvelous Math Club and what capacity they’re able to do that, if so,” Jacobsen said.

“We’re also checking in with the caretakers of the Math Leaders,” she continued. “We’re shifting into this space of supporting the caretakers more than the Math Leaders right now. That’s one way that our support has had to look different, but it’s emergent and it’ll still making an impact and making sure that the community feels supported, too.”

Looking Ahead

It can be hard to see in times of great difficulty, but Jacobsen said she sees reasons for hope, and even excitement, as she continues to work on developing that emergent strategy for connection and engagement during COVID-19.

“I think for me, the things I’m excited about are this movement of virtual support,” Jacobsen said. “Because I think it is a different way of communicating, but I think in some ways it can be even more intimate. It’s not physical, but for a student, going the length of connecting with them, just you and them, on this screen together, that feels good and supportive. Someone is invested in me and is passionate about supporting me. I’m really excited about what that model is going to look like and how it is going to build relationships.”

Seeing others in the community find their own ways to support each other has brought Jacobsen hope, as well, such as local restaurants providing free lunches to students while schools are closed.

“We’re all feeling this collective grief and fear right now, how can that translate that into collective resilience for all of us and all of our community?” Jacobsen said. “Maybe we’ll all come out of this kinder and more loving toward one another. I’m excited to see how we’re going to come out of this.”

Button Label

Finding Her Place in the Big Cheese

How UNC Asheville helped Shannon Herlihy transform a passion for food systems, health, and justice into a career supporting small-scale cheesemakers around the world

Read

MAHEC Internship Prepares UNC Asheville Students for Careers in Medicine

UNC Asheville Student Aryelle Jacobsen Awarded Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellowship

How UNC Asheville helped Shannon Herlihy transform a passion for food systems, health, and justice into a career supporting small-scale cheesemakers around the world

January 26^th, 2026

Senior Chemistry Student Adam Wold Powers Meaningful Change in Sustainability Research

December 2^nd, 2025

An epic journey from UNC Asheville to the prestigious Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program

2025 Alumni-Owned Holiday Gift Guide

How UNC Asheville helped Shannon Herlihy transform a passion for food systems, health, and justice into a career supporting small-scale cheesemakers around the world

January 26th, 2026

Senior Chemistry Student Adam Wold Powers Meaningful Change in Sustainability Research

December 2nd, 2025

An epic journey from UNC Asheville to the prestigious Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program

2025 Alumni-Owned Holiday Gift Guide

January 26^th, 2026

December 2^nd, 2025