Charlotte Combe ’27 has won the Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellowship based on her potential for public leadership and her work in the community. Combe, a double major in Sociology and Gender Studies, is the co-founder of Substance Use Harm Reduction at CC (SUHR@CC).
Each year, CC’s president nominates a single candidate for the Newman Civic Fellowship. In her nomination letter this year, L. Song Richardson wrote, “Charlotte is driven by compassion and humanity. She believes a thriving community must care for all its members, especially its most vulnerable populations. This is why I know Charlotte has a bright future as a civic leader.”
“I am humbled to have been nominated and awarded the Civic Newman Fellowship,” Combe says. “Having guidance, training, and a national network of fellows to connect and grow with and learn from will be invaluable in my future advocacy efforts in harm reduction. I hope to learn more about how to create sustainable and effective change in the Colorado Springs community.”
Combe’s work in harm reduction is grounded in the understanding that everyone deserves to be treated with compassion and respect. Ultimately, that work resulted in providing free access to lifesaving services and resources. SUHR@CC members pack thousands of wound care and overdose prevention kits monthly for the local non-profit Love Alive. Combe also partners with campus offices to train students on overdose prevention and often acts as a spokesperson on the topic. Her work was inspired by the drug overdose of a student at her high school and fueled by the knowledge that El Paso County has the highest overdose fatality rate in the state of Colorado.
Combe credits CC’s Block Plan with providing opportunities to deepen and expand her interest in harm reduction and overdose prevention advocacy. Over Half Block this year, she conducted research for the Recovery Court program in the 4th Judicial District of Colorado. The recovery court program requires participants who are in active addiction to go through an intensive three-year program of substance use disorder treatment and probation to have their criminal charges expunged.
“My research analyzed key demographic factors that impact an individual’s success in the program,” says Combe. “Being able to conduct this research helped me to contextualize the criminalization of substance use in El Paso County and the barriers people face in receiving treatment for their substance use disorders.”
Campus Compact is the largest and oldest higher education civic association dedicated to higher education civic and community engagement. The Newman Civic Fellowship is a year-long program that provides students with opportunities to develop strategies for social change by creating a network of connected and engaged student leaders who can support one another in making positive changes.
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