Inaugural Rhea S. Schwartz Fellow reflects on year of service

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State 2022 alumna Josie Krieger, the inaugural recipient of the Rhea S. Schwartz Fellowship in the College of the Liberal Arts, is midway through her year of service at the Utah Refugee Services Office in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she is a member of the AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America program.

Established in late 2021 thanks to a $2 million gift ($1 million in immediate use funds; $1 million estate gift) from 1971 Penn State alumna Rhea Schwartz and her husband, Paul Wolff, the Schwartz Fellowship provides one year of funding for a graduating senior in the College of the Liberal Arts to engage in a service-related activity after graduation. The program is the first endowment of its kind at Penn State.

Krieger — who graduated with degrees in economics and history and minors in Jewish Studies and Middle East Studies — is a State College native whose parents “instilled independence and self-reliance and encouraged me and my sisters to be adventurous through both academics and travel.” She was a Paterno Fellow, a Schreyer Scholar, co-founder of Students Teaching Students, and a member of the Presidential Leadership Academy as an undergraduate. She studied in Azerbaijan as a Penn State undergraduate and spent eight weeks in Turkey after graduation as part of the Critical Language Scholarship Program. She spent time as a refugee case manager in Kansas City, Kansas, as part of another AmeriCorps program; she also served as an intern for Management Systems International (a firm that contracts with the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID), where she learned about how USAID distributes food in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“All of these experiences gave me the desire to work with internally displaced people and with the refugee community,” Krieger said, noting that her strengths in project management and capacity building rather than direct service prompted her to apply for her current AmeriCorps experience in Utah.

With roughly 65,000 refugees from several countries in the greater Salt Lake City region, the Utah Refugee Services Office focuses on piloting and strengthening programs that promote autonomy for the refugee community and address refugee poverty cycles. Krieger’s responsibilities include managing, assessing, and modifying existing programming and training materials to ensure the sustainability of the office’s many programs, which include a sewing program and technology training, among others.

“I’m basically doing behind-the-scenes logistics,” Krieger said. “People from all over the world attend our programs — people from Sudan, Ukraine, Somalia, Cuba. Everything we do is about trying to support a strong environment for the community and meet their needs.

“We want people who come to Utah to feel like there’s a space for them,” she continued. “We are working on employment for the community, both short-term and long-term, and helping people understand there are resources available.”

Financial help through the Schwartz Fellowship

While AmeriCorps pays its volunteers a small stipend, Krieger said she may not have been able to afford to participate in the project without the financial assistance provided by the Schwartz Fellowship.

“I am so passionate about the work, and the Schwartz Fellowship makes it possible,” Krieger said. “Rhea Schwartz and her husband are so kind and generous. It feels very validating to know that people not only believe in the work I am doing but also want to support it.”

Krieger, whose fellowship concludes in August, said she is enjoying her coworkers and the abundant outdoor recreational activities available in Utah and the surrounding region. She is looking forward to returning to Penn State to talk about her experience — a requirement of the program — and to being part of the Schwartz Fellow cohort that will build up over time. “I’m excited for the work that I’m doing now, and also for the future of the program and what it will mean for the greater Penn State community. People will go all over the world, and it’s going to be so cool to see.”

The deadline for applying to be the next Schwartz Fellow is Feb. 1. Liberal arts students who graduated in summer or fall 2022 or who plan to graduate in May or August 2023 are also eligible to apply. Interested students should visit  https://schwartz-fellows.la.psu.edu/ for more information.