“Clara Barsoum is the definition of leadership, service and volunteerism, academic integrity, and commitment to Northeastern,” says Kelliann Henry, associate director of undergraduate student engagement at CSSH. “While Clara is a student I have supervised, I also consider her a colleague in the work of social justice leadership on campus and beyond.”
Since arriving on campus, Clara has been instrumental in the work of the FUNL (First-Generation, Undocumented, Low-Income) Network at Northeastern. She researched the impact of academic probation policies on FUNL students and presented recommendations to the Persistence Advising Network, a collective of Northeastern professional advising staff. As a direct result, many of the advising teams updated their academic probation notification letters, language, and approaches to better align with research-based recommendations to best support student success.
A double major in political science and communication studies and philosophy with a 3.85 GPA, Clara is also an active member of the Politics, Philosophy and Economics Club, the Empower Student of Color Collective, and the Arab Student Association. Additionally, she has been a peer mentor in the CSSH department and a program assistant co-op in the Massachusetts Governor’s Office of Access and Opportunity. She has also held roles within the Center for Intercultural Engagement and the Social Justice Resource Center. Within the larger community, she has served as assistant director of the Boston Intercollegiate Government’s DEI Committee and has volunteered for Boston Cares and the Boston Outdoor Preschool Network.
Besides her involvement in social justice, Clara is an artist who collages, draws, and makes jewelry. She organized the creation of five murals for community organizations, hosted Northeastern’s first-ever Art Social, and collaborated with the Social Justice Resource Center and EXP Makerspace to host an Art as Resistance workshop.
Clara is also the recipient of several awards: the Dean’s List, the Political Science Honors Society, the Leaves of Growth Award, the Communication Studies Department Distinguished Scholar Award, the PEAK Award, the First-Generation Social Justice Advocacy Award, and the Huntington 100.
Henry says, “Clara’s accomplishments highlight that it is possible to excel in one’s own academic and professional development while also maintaining a commitment to serving others and advocating for social justice, representing the very best of Northeastern students.”
After graduation, Clara plans to work in the nonprofit sector for a year or two before attending graduate school.
