Each summer, the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility supports a select group of SMU students as they pursue service-driven projects across the country. These students, known as Maguire Public Service Fellows, receive funding to dedicate over 200 hours to community work or ethics research with organizations of their choice. Thanks to the continued generosity of the Irby Family Foundation, the Fellowship provides critical gap funding—$2,000 for undergraduates and $2,400 for graduate students—that helps students turn meaningful summer opportunities into reality.
This year, we received a record number of applications for the Fellowship, reflecting SMU students’ growing desire to engage with ethical challenges and create positive change in their communities. After a highly competitive selection process, the following seven students were chosen to carry the Maguire Center’s mission forward through an extraordinary range of projects:
ZAHRA CHOWDHURY
Undergraduate – Political Science and Economics
Sponsoring Organization: Just City
Zahra Chowdhury will lead the transformation of Just City’s Court Watch program in Memphis, turning it into a sustainable, committee-driven initiative that strengthens civic engagement and accountability in the courts. In addition to expanding volunteer outreach, she is building partnerships with local faith communities and student groups to broaden the program’s impact.
Graduate – Systematic Theology
Sponsoring Organization: St. Julian of Norwich Episcopal Church
Jaden Daly will partner with St. Julian of Norwich Episcopal Church to develop a faith-based environmental ministry that integrates eco-theology with community action. Drawing on his background in theology and regenerative design, Jaden will lead educational initiatives, hands-on sustainability projects, and the launch of an environmental action ministry to deepen the church’s commitment to creation care and ecological justice.
VIDHI JADEJA
Undergraduate – Markets and Culture, Economics, Studio Art
Sponsoring Organization: The Stewpot
Vidhi Jadeja will serve in South Dallas with The Stewpot, a nonprofit supporting individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty. In addition to volunteering with Stewpot programs and outreach, Vidhi will take a leadership role within the organization’s Art, Music + Creative Programs to foster self-expression and build community through the arts.
SOFIA KIRK
Undergraduate – Theatre, English
Sponsoring Organization: Icon Church
Sofia R. Kirk will collaborate with Icon Church in Plano, Texas on projects in communications, nonprofit administration, and community outreach to help grow the congregation and strengthen the church’s connection to the local community. She will also work with the church to create content exploring the intersectionality between faith, the arts, and diversity. Her responsibilities will include producing podcasts and social media content, developing creative projects such as short films and music along with organizing service events and supporting operational tasks. The project models how faith communities can embrace diversity, foster creative expression, and serve underrepresented groups.
BRADLEY PETTY
Graduate – Art History
Sponsoring Organization: Downwinders at Risk
Bradley Petty will support a community-driven transportation equity project in South Dallas through the Connect South Dallas Transportation Survey, in partnership with Downwinders at Risk. Drawing on his background in nonprofit leadership and local advocacy, Bradley will engage residents to gather data and inform policy solutions that promote just, inclusive infrastructure.
REV. ALEXANDER VISHIO
Graduate – Systematic Theology
Sponsoring Organization: Bridwell Library
Rev. Alexander Vishio will examine the published and unpublished works of the Christian theologian Schubert M. Ogden and the moral philosopher Franklin I. Gamwell. His research will focus on their shared conception that a properly conceived Christian theology of liberation complements a credible moral theory of emancipation. The results of his study will inform the planning and hosting of an autumn academic conference, Liberating Theology for the Common Good, which Vishio is co-chairing at SMU’s Bridwell Library. The aim of that conference is to show that and how such a shared conception makes a singular and significant contribution to both a religiously and a humanistically informed and thus more nearly adequate understanding of the common good in and for a pluralistic, democratic polity.
COLLIN YARBROUGH
Graduate – Civil Engineering
Sponsoring Organizations: Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering and Downwinders at Risk
Collin Yarbrough will conduct community-based research with support from Downwinders at Risk, investigating how infrastructure development in Dallas and Seattle reinforces systemic racism and environmental inequality. His summer project focuses on identifying measurable indicators of systemic oppression in built environments to inform more ethical infrastructure policy. As part of this work, Collin will attend a workshop at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research to strengthen his methodological approach and contribute to his dissertation on equitable infrastructure planning.