The Maguire Ethics Center is proud to announce our 2021 cohort of Public Service Fellows– seven SMU undergraduate and graduate students who will dedicate their summer to public service and ethics research.
The Maguire Center, with financial assistance from the Irby Family Foundation, awards summer fellowships to SMU students who wish to devote time to public service or ethics research. Over the past 20 years, we have awarded summer fellowship stipends totaling over $400,000 to nearly 200 SMU students for public service and research in ethics. We have supported volunteers in more than 150 agencies across 18 states, 25 countries, and 5 continents.
Maguire Public Service Fellows have volunteered in a vast number of diverse internship placements. Through such opportunities, students gain concrete information about others’ needs, as well as differing perspectives on how to resolve them. Drawing on their university education and personal talent, Fellows hone their skills and gain both humility and self-confidence to become bold, curious and creative leaders. The goal of the Fellowship is to enable students to engage in public service where financial circumstances might not otherwise allow.
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Teresa Acosta ’22 (she/her)
Undergraduate Fellow
Major(s): Biological Sciences and Human Rights
Sponsoring Organization: UT Southwestern
Teresa Acosta is a rising senior at SMU pursuing majors in Biological Sciences and Human Rights and minors in History and Spanish. Teresa recently made SMU history as the inaugural First-Generation Senator elected to the 108th SMU Student Senate. She also holds a multitude of additional leadership roles across campus including president of SMU’s First Generation Association, Director of Public Relations and Outreach for Alternative Breaks, Co-Events Director for the SMU Human Rights Council, Rush Chair for Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity, SMU Service House Residential Assistant, Community Service Chair for Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc., and Connect Mentor for SMU’s Office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement (SCIE).Off campus, she serves as a student ambassador for Children’s Hospital in Dallas. Teresa was introduced to the field of biomedical ethics through long-time Maguire partner and friend, Dr. Carolyn Smith-Morris in her Health, Healing and Ethics course.
Marne Chacon ‘25 (she/her)
Graduate Fellow
Anthropology Ph.D. Candidate
Sponsoring Organization: Total Hospice and Palliative Care
Marne Chacon is an Anthropology Ph.D. candidate at SMU. Before her time at SMU, Marne earned a B.S. in Anthropology as well as a Biomedical Research Certificate from Texas A&M University. Having lived in four states, Marne calls Arizona home as that’s where she spent the majority of her childhood. As a child, Marne and her family spent their weekends on road trips hiking, off-roading, and visiting various ruins. These childhood experiences, combined with her fascination with medical practices, led to Marne’s desire to study medical anthropology. Marne’s doctoral research interests include mental health and patient’s rights and experiences in hospitals. Outside of school, Marne enjoys road trips, spending time with friends, and going on adventures with her dog, Tucker.
Brianna Hogg ’22 (she/her)
Graduate Fellow
History Ph.D. Candidate
Sponsoring Organization: For Oak Cliff
Brianna Hogg is a History Ph.D. candidate at SMU. Her doctoral research focuses on nineteenth-and-twentieth-century United States history with a specialization in African and African-American studies. Brianna earned both her B.A. and M.A. in history from SMU. Brianna’s dissertation examines the impact of urban renewal and redevelopment on Black communities. Additional areas of research interest include urban history, African-American history, race and culture, oral history, digital humanities, and public history. On campus, Brianna currently serves as a Graduate Assistant in SMU’s office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement. She also has experience in oral history as she serves as an Oral History Specialist with Dallas County Medical Society and also worked as an Oral History Transcriber for SMU’s Norwick Center for Digital Solutions. As an undergraduate student at SMU, Brianna was an SMU Ronald McNair Scholar, a member of Student Foundation, a member of SMU’s Association of Black Students, and SMU’s Crain Leadership Summit 2016 Marketing Coordinator and 2017 Summit Director.
Samantha Lagos ’25 (she/they)
Graduate Fellow
Anthropology Ph.D. Candidate
Sponsoring Organization: Remembering Black Dallas
Samantha Lagos is an Anthropology Ph.D. Candidate at SMU. Before her time at SMU, Samantha earned her B.A. at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and her M.A. in Anthropology at the University of Washington, Seattle. Samantha’s doctoral research focuses on population settlement and subsistence strategies in lacustrine environments during the late Holocene (12,000-3,000 years ago) in the Fayum, Egypt, and Fort Rock Valley in the Great Basin. At SMU, she hopes to employ innovative computer technologies and to work with descendant communities in explorations of human-environment interaction in island Polynesia. When Samantha is not elbow deep in research, you can find her knee deep in the bush on a tramp, reading a book in happy solitude, tearing her hands up indoor bouldering, or working her way through a cross-stitch.
Brady Martin ’22 (he/him)
Undergraduate Fellow
Major(s): Public Policy, Human Rights, and Spanish
Sponsoring Organization: All Wheels Up
Brady Martin is a rising senior at SMU pursuing majors in Public Policy, Human Rights, and Spanish and a minor in Law and Legal Reasoning. Brady’s studies are driven by his desire to create a more equitable society through human rights advocacy efforts with particular interests in international development, education reform, and micro-financing. On campus, Brady is involved in various campus organizations such as the Hunt Leadership Program, the Big Event, Engaged Learning, Hegi Career Center, and the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center. Brady also serves as a Caswell Leadership Fellow, Philanthropy Chair of Beta Theta Pi, Co-President of Redefining Mental Illness, and is a research assistant with SMU’s sociology department. Brady is no stranger to the Maguire Ethics Center as he won third place in our inaugural undergraduate Ethics Essay Prize.
Zach deMoya ’25 (he/him)
Graduate Fellow
Religious Studies Ph.D. Candidate
Sponsoring Organization: White rock UMC and Owenwood Farm and Neighbor Space
Zach deMoya is a Religious Studies Ph.D. candidate at SMU. Before attending SMU, Zach earned his B.A. in Education from the University of South Carolina. Zach was raised in the United Methodist Church, and upon recognizing the deep theological questions intertwined with his work in the financial sector, decided to pursue the twin goals of ordination in the UMC and a master’s program at Duke Divinity School. Zach and his wife, Lauren, moved to Durham, NC, to attend Duke where he earned both the M.TS. and Th.M. degrees, culminating in his thesis entitled “The Challenge of Liberty and Slavery in Early Methodism”, a study engaging the history of political theology within both British and American Methodism in the denomination’s nascent stage. In his work at SMU, Zach hopes to study and research at the intersection of theology and political economy, with particular interest in how the church might serve as a conduit for ethical engagement in the local and global economies and how banking and wealth management might be pursued in accordance with the morals and values produced by religious ethical systems. Zach and Lauren are expecting their first child in five months.
Rachel Morrow ’24 (she/her)
Undergraduate Fellow
Major(s): Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Sponsoring Organization: VNA Meals on Wheels
Rachel Morrow is a rising sophomore at SMU pursuing a major in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs. In high school, Rachel recorded more than 400 hours of community service, but her dedication doesn’t stop there. On campus, Rachel has led Boaz Commons’ food drive, participated in the Big Event, and is a part of SMU’s service organization, Mustang Heroes. Rachel hopes to continue developing her leadership skills and ethical standards as a Maguire Public Service Fellow by promoting public health and equity of access through her summer project.