UW–Madison Posse Student Named Newman Civic Fellow ‘20

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is proud to announce Shehrose Charania as its 2020 Newman Civic Fellow.

Charania joins 290 community-committed students representing Campus Compact member colleges and universities from 39 states, Washington, D.C., Mexico and Greece.

Shehrose Charania
Shehrose Charania is a member of UW-Madison’s Chicago Posse 16.

Newman Civic Fellows are nominated by university presidents and chancellors for their potential for public leadership and commitment to finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country.

Fellows will participate in leadership development, networking events and a national conference of Newman Civic Fellows.

Charania was nominated by UW–Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank for her commitment to fight health inequities that affect immigrant and refugee populations.

A third-year undergraduate majoring in health promotion and health equity, Charania combines her identity as a Pakistani Muslim American and passion for health promotion to combat health inequities. The combination of her identity and passion is informed by her first-hand experience as a teenage immigrant living in Chicago, and taking on the role of a “patient navigator” to help her parents navigate the complex health care system.

Charania is an Undergraduate Research Scholar (URS) fellow and facilitates a seminar with underrepresented students to foster interdisciplinary perspective on research and how they can grow as informed citizens. In her free time, Charania writes and performs poetry to change her narrative from one of oppression to one of optimism.

Through her passion for service, she hopes to work in policymaking to create organizations that combines health, education and research to pave opportunities for equity for immigrant and refugee populations.


The Newman Civic Fellowship was created in honor of Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders and a tireless advocate for the role of higher education in preparing students for active and engaged citizenship.

 The Newman Civic Fellowship is generously supported by the KPMG Foundation and Newman’s Own Foundation. The 2020-2021 Newman Civic Fellows are an inspiring group of community-committed students who are already making an impact in communities where they live, learn and serve.