Four Stritch Students Are Prestigious Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Winners

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Four Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine students have been selected for Albert Schweitzer Fellowships, a national honor that helps graduate students dedicate their time and services to helping others. The four will spend a year creating and overseeing service projects that improve health and access to care in underserved communities in the United States and Africa. The students and their projects are: * Erin Cavanaugh, who will run family cooking classes at the Maywood Fine Arts Association, an organization that provides high-quality arts instruction at a very low cost to the children of Maywood and surrounding communities. The classes will actively educate the children and adults of Maywood about nutritious meal preparation. * Matthew Murphy, who will spearhead a program of case referrals and educational programming at the Marjorie-Kovler Center in Chicago, which focuses on helping victims of physical and psychological torture to recover. The project will outreach specifically to French- and Arabic-speaking communities. * David Murray, who will start a youth night for local junior high school students at St. Eulalia Catholic Church in Maywood. His program will offer organized physical activities, health presentations from medical students and professionals, as well as open gym time. * Alicia Stapleton, who plans to develop a health and wellness class for Spanish-speaking adults at the PCC Community Wellness Center, which offers community-based health-care services for the medically underserved living on the West Side of Chicago. Her class will include interactive and therapeutic activities. "Our medical students stand out among the many students in the Chicago area for their commitment to community service and social justice," said Lena Hatchett, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Preventative Medicine and Epidemiology, Stritch. "For example, I was at a meeting with one social service organization and they said, 'We can't get these kids engaged and committed to community service, except for those Loyola students. They are really amazing.'" Thirty-one students representing 18 different university programs including medicine, nursing, psychology, public health, social work, art therapy, and law were selected for Schweitzer Fellowships this year. The fellowship is named in honor of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, a physician, theologian, musician and humanitarian who in 1952 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his hospital work in Africa.