As a student at Syracuse University, Erin Carhart ’14 was a well-known and well-liked figure on campus.  Her bright smile and warm demeanor were just a few of the many traits that drew people to her.

In her time at Syracuse University, Carhart not only majored in policy studies and minored in women’s and gender studies but she was also a Remembrance Scholar, an intern at the Syracuse City Bureau of Research, and the President of the student group, Students Advocating for Sexual Safety (SASSE).

“Syracuse University provided me with the opportunity to build my skill set in an academic environment in order to understand the social, economic and political issues facing our society,” Carhart says.

A national campus organizer for the non-profit, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Carhart works hard to support the organization’s network of student activists and campus networks across the country to mobilize communities to achieve reproductive freedom. She says it all began at Syracuse University, where she was able to dive into conversations around race, class, gender, and sexuality.

She is grateful to the interdisciplinary nature of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs for enabling her to combine the hands-on and skills-based major of policy studies with her women’s and gender studies minor, an area in which she’s incredibly passionate.

In what she refers to as the “marriage of her major and minor.” Carhart says she was able "to bring the intersectional lens to my projects of policy analysis.” 

She began this process even before she graduated. As the President of SASSE, Carhart spent her time planning events, preparing campaigns, and developing action plans for upcoming semesters. It was this student organization that encompassed both her love for community action and her desire to seek social justice, concepts that she continues to pursue in her everyday work even now.

Carhart is a fantastic example of a student that was able to find their life’s passion through a liberal arts degree and who was able to make improvements to the world around her even while still a student at Syracuse.

She says the University provided her with a platform to begin building the skills and resources she needed to become the accomplished woman that she is, but the University’s partnership with the city of Syracuse also gave her leeway to pursue her passions outside of the classroom. “My experience was consistently enriched by the experience I had off-campus, due to the partnership between the University and the surrounding community.”