Two City College of New York students, Victoria Lu and Abram Morris, have been awarded New York City Urban Fellowships by the city’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services, according to a May 14 announcement.
The fellowship program places participants in mayoral offices and city agencies for nine months beginning in September. The goal is to give fellows experience in policy and operational work as well as exposure to leaders in the public sector.
Lu is a Macauley Honors student at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, majoring in international studies, sociology, and political science. She has also earned an Advanced Certificate in Labor Relations from the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. Lu has previously held several fellowships including City College Fellow, Colin Powell School Research Fellow, Moynihan Public Service Fellow, and Jeannette K. Watson Fellow. This summer she will be working with Whose Knowledge?, a nonprofit focused on sharing marginalized communities’ knowledge online through initiatives such as “Decolonizing the Internet” and “Liberatory Archives and Memory!”
Lu said she views the Urban Fellows program as an opportunity to gain initial experience working within city government on labor issues: “a foot in the door” as she starts her career in public service.
Morris is enrolled in the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture’s accelerated master’s degree program combining architecture with urban design. He has interned at both the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Construction & Development division and with New York City’s Public Advocate’s Infrastructure and Environmental Justice Unit under Deputy Public Advocate Kashif Hussain. Reflecting on his motivation for applying to be an Urban Fellow, Morris said he learned about “people and neighborhoods who are not thoughtfully included in the process of deciding the destiny of their neighborhood.”
The selection of Lu and Morris highlights opportunities available for students interested in public service careers through programs like these.
