University of Massachusetts Dartmouth undergrad Callie Nunez has been named a 2017 Newman Civic Fellow by the nationwide coalition Campus Compact for her efforts to raise awareness around combating the ongoing opioid crisis.

Nunez, a nursing major from Whitman, Mass., began a campus chapter of the national Young People in Recovery (YPR) organization in March 2016 to serve the community both on and off campus.

UMass Dartmouth’s YPR chapter has presented at community events and resource fairs around the South Coast of Massachusetts, and received the Break-Out Chapter 2016 award from the national YPR leadership conference last year, said university officials. The campus chapter also hosted Steps Toward Recovery Walk in fall 2016.

“I identify myself as an ally of recovery,” said Nunez, who noted that her brother is in long-term recovery, via press release. “Growing up, watching his disease take over his life was one of the hardest things to witness. However, watching my brother transform his life through the power of recovery was nothing short of a miracle. I not only want to break stigma, raise awareness, and support those in need, but I want to set a standard for other colleges.”

Newman Civic Fellowship candidates are nominated by university presidents and chancellors to become part of a national cohort of community-committed students. Nunez joins 272 other students from across the Campus Compact Network in receiving the fellowship, with a term that runs from August 2017 through May 2018.

Campus Compact is a national coalition of more than 1,000 college and university presidents—representing some six million students—who are committed to improving community life and to educating students for civic and social responsibility.