News Archives - 2007

Nou Chang, a Sophomore Biology and English major, is a 2007 recipient of a Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation Scholarship. This highly competitive scholarship supports potential leaders with outstanding academic credentials who intend to dedicate a portion of their lives to community service.

To be eligible for the scholarship, Chang was required to construct a community service program. Chang chose to work with homeless Hmong refugee children, ages 6-12, and to partner with the Southeast Asian Community Council, a non-profit organization. 

Nou hopes to create a center for children of the homeless Hmong refugees that would allow them to come together and express themselves in a culturally based program.

“My goal is to provide Hmong children with another form of communication, to establish relationships with each other through teamwork and outside resources, and to enhance social skills. Also, I would like to increase their confidence and communication skills, to expose Hmong children to the Twin Cities arts area, and to maintain cultural identity,” she says.

Chang is also a Lilly Scholarship recipient and serves as President of the Asian American Student Association. She is actively involved in the community as a tutor to new Hmong immigrant children at Como Elementary School and children at the Kaleidoscope After-School program.  She also volunteers at the Fairview Medical Center.