Privilege & Poverty Celebrates First Cluster Graduate

Taylor Banaszewski ’17 receives her certificate of completion from James Calvin Davis, Academic Director of Privilege & Poverty

At the Privilege & Poverty End-of-Year Reception in May, students, faculty, and staff gathered to celebrate the achievements of the Privilege & Poverty program this year, and in particular, of one student, Taylor Banaszewski ’17. Taylor is the first student to complete the Privilege & Poverty Academic Cluster – an Economics major and Sociology minor, Taylor took the Flagship Course in the fall of her junior year and completed a national P&P internship the summer before her senior year. She served as a Financial Capability Intern with Foundation Communities in Austin, TX, where supported financial coaching services and collected client success stories for the non-profit.

Adding in electives from a variety of disciplines, Taylor completed the Cluster with her senior thesis in Economics as her Capstone. In her thesis, which received Highest Honors, she conducted a quantitative analysis of the effect of status on a person’s willingness to acquire debt. She presented her thesis at the Spring Symposium in April and at the Economics Senior Thesis Poster Session in May. After her graduation from Middlebury this month, Taylor will begin a role at Bank of America this summer.  

Faculty affiliates, staff, and students gather outside the Center for Community Engagement for the Privilege & Poverty End-of-Year Reception

 

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