Engineering students and their causes featured on Homecoming Court
Three College of Engineering students could become Ohio State royalty later this fall.
Students Roaya Higazi, Max Hill and Bridgette Wadge have been named to this year’s Homecoming Court alongside 19 of their peers. Homecoming Court members are chosen based on their leadership quality, spirit, integrity and achievement through their contributions and involvement at Ohio State.
New this year is a philanthropic component to the longstanding Homecoming Court tradition. The court is participating in a Buckeye Funder peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, in which each member selects a cause and corresponding fund. From September 21 to October 12, they will encourage their peers, loved ones, and alumni they know personally to consider supporting their cause. Three engineering related causes have been selected.
Higazi is a fourth-year city and regional planning major in the Knowlton School of Architecture. Originally from Pickerington, Ohio, her campus involvement includes Buckeyes First, First Year Experience Peer Leader, Morrill Scholarship Program and SPHINX Senior Honorary. She also serves as Undergraduate Student Government President. Her philanthropic cause is the Morrill Scholarship Program, which offers scholarships and educational enrichment opportunities to academically talented students who are actively engaged in diversity-based leadership, social justice and service. Support for the fund will invest in the students and staff who continue to make an impact on campus and around the world
Hill is a senior industrial and systems engineering major originally from Cincinnati. He is involved in various organizations on campus including the Integrated Business and Engineering Honors Program, Student-Alumni Council, Buckeye Undergraduate Consulting Club and College of Engineering Student Ambassadors. Hill has selected Engineers Without Borders (EWB), of which he is a member, as his philanthropic cause. EWB is a humanitarian engineering student organization focused on providing sustainable solutions to communities in need around the world, while giving students a chance to develop skills outside the classroom. Funds collected will directly support the second phase implementation of a solar-powered irrigation system for Njau, a small community in Gambia.
Wadge is a fourth-year mechanical engineering major. Hailing from Amherst, Ohio, her activities include BuckeyeThon and Society of Women Engineers. She also serves as an Ohio Welcome Leader and a Fundamentals of Engineering Honors Teaching Assistant. Wadge’s chosen campaign is the College of Engineering’s Office of Diversity, Outreach and Inclusion (DOI). DOI offers a variety of student-centric academic, professional and social enrichment programs designed to increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering while hosting inclusive, accessible events open to all engineering students. Support for the fund will create opportunities that improve the social climate of the college and improve the educational experience of all students.
Additionally, Fisher College of Business senior Holly Piper has selected the Sustainable and Resilient Communities Service Learning Project, which lies within the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering. The service learning study abroad program aims to help bring clean, accessible water and a better life to the residents of Marwa, Tanzania. Although she is not affiliated with engineering, Piper was drawn to the project after traveling abroad and seeing impoverished children hospitalized from drinking contaminated water. Contributions to this fund will help construct treatment and distribution systems to deliver clean water to the Marwa village.
Two students will be crowned the 2020 Royal Buckeyes during a virtual ceremony on Friday, October 9, 2020 at 7 p.m.
by Meggie Biss, College of Engineering Communications | biss.11@osu.edu
