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Portland

Social Work student receives 2021 Heart and Soul Student Award

Sydney Wolf leads a discussion at an Active Minds event in 2019
Sydney Wolf leads a discussion at an Active Minds event in 2019

Sydney Wolf (Social Work, ’22) has been selected as a recipient of the 2021 Maine Campus Compact Heart and Soul Student Award for her exceptional contributions to civic engagement, both on campus and within the community.

Wolf is one of only six students throughout Maine to receive the award from the Maine Campus Compact (MCC), an organization of college and university presidents that looks to foster institutional change for civic engagement, ways to become partners with local communities and to promote faculty and student engagement.

According to MCC, being chosen is a tribute both to a student’s status as a leader and to their outstanding commitment to service, activism, and community involvement.  

Wolf was nominated for the award by Cyndi Amato, M.S.W., program director in the School of Social Work.

“Wolf’s engagement in civic initiatives on campus demonstrates innovation, persistence, leadership, and forward thinking,” Amato wrote.

In 2019, Wolf founded the student group Active Minds, an organization that seeks to break the stigma associated with mental health and create an environment that encourages conversations, advocacy, and support.

“In the 2020 fall semester, Sydney did not let COVID-19 protocols prevent Active Minds from continuing the work,” Amato explained. “Under her leadership, a semester-long online educational series tailored to the college experience was implemented.”

In addition to her leadership with Active Minds, Wolf is the co-President of the Social Work Club, a work study student in the Title IX office, and a peer teacher for the Interprofessional First Year Experience course that all incoming health professions students are enrolled in.

The awards will be presented during a virtual ceremony on April 28.

Head shot photo of Sydney Wolf
Heart and Soul Student Award recipient Sydney Wolf

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.