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Kornfeind Wins Fellowship for Commitment to Public Service
By Stephanie Ogden or his work in public service, Benjamin Kornfeind, CC'98, has been awarded the highly competitive Coro Fellowship, a 10-week intensive summer internship program in public affairs. Kornfeind was selected for his demonstrated leadership and commitment to public service. He will rotate through placements in government, business, labor, media and non-profit agencies in his hometown of Kansas City. The Coro program is grounded in experiential learning and its recipients are often the administrators, elected officials and civic leaders of tomorrow.
Since coming to Columbia, Kornfeind has been an active leader. He is the student executive of Community Impact, group coordinator for the Harlem Restoration Project, leader of the 1996 Urban Experience, president of the Columbia Student Urban Network, treasurer and member at-large of the University Students' Organization, editor-in-chief of the Columbia Review Literary Magazine, executive editor of the Federalist Paper and a member of the crew team. Kornfeind has also found great academic success at Columbia. He is a John Jay Scholar majoring in Urban Studies and American History. At 22 he has received numerous awards in journalism, community leadership and academics, including: The Columbia Bronze Award for Extra-Curricular Achievement, The Review Award for Leadership in Publication and The National Endowment for the Humanities Grant. Kornfeind says, "My goal is to help cities create successful communities that will draw Americans together and offer the most vibrant cultural and educational opportunities in the nation. I am drawn to city life over all other social environments because of the unique dynamic of urban streets. Through casual interaction with people in public places, city-dwellers gain a sense of community and a tolerance of differences--American values that are unable to be taught in gated suburbs. I will work hard to keep this dynamic safe, healthy and heterogeneous." Associate Dean Katheryn Yatrakis says, "Ben's personal and intellectual enthusiasm is infectious and has not waned since his freshman year. He is a gifted leader who can bring together diverse members of a community toward a common purpose--bring about positive change to the environments in which we all live and work." He plans to apply to Columbia's joint Law and Urban Planning program, but only after he has spent a year in New York volunteering in the City Year or Americorps programs.
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