Fellowship named for Sr. Seton Cunneen ’65 SNDdeN carries on her legacy of service

Funded by the Maurice R. Robinson Foundation — since 1996 — the Cunneen Fellowship has provided Trinity Students with paid community service internship experiences.

For more than twenty years, The Sister Seton Cunneen, SND ’65 Fellowship Program has provided opportunities for Trinity students to participate in a paid community service internship experience in the spirit of Trinity’s founding order, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

The Maurice R. Robinson Fund has enabled Trinity to establish this outstanding Social Justice program in honor of Sister Seton Cunneen, SND ’65, former Campus Minister and faculty member at Trinity. Sr. Cunneen passed away in 2021.

Each year, Trinity receives multiple applications from which about 2 -3 are accepted by the critique of the Cunneen Committee which is comprised of the three Professors, the Dean of Students, and the Director of Campus Ministry, Sr. Ann Howard, SND.  It is up to the applicant to provide information about the site and the name of a supervisor as well as an intention to commit to 10 weeks of consecutive service.

Imeyrani Islas was the chosen 2023 Cunneen Fellow.  For 10 weeks during the Summer of 2023, Imeyrani served as a legal intern with CARECEN, the Central American Resource Center located in Washington, DC.  CARECEN’s mission is to strengthen the Latino community through direct programs, civic engagement, grassroots empowerment, and human rights advocacy.

Through the Cunneen Fellows program, Trinity student recipients continue to thrive as advocates for social justice, and are empowered through service, learning, and activism.  It takes dedication and steadfastness to comply with the weekly reflection Friday time together, and to remain open to learning and discovering things about non-profit organizations and how they work.  Sr. Ann Howard, SND is the coordinator of the Cunneen Fellowship Program and she works directly with each student, helping them to transition from a (rightfully) anxious student-leader – Cunneen Fellow—to a confident service provider.  Helping Trinity women discover their strengths through education and social justice, and gain the confidence to create real change in their lives and community is what the Trinity experience is all about.

Imeyrani plans to pursue a career in immigration law to help as many people as she can and to prevent them from being taken advantage of due to their vulnerability. “I am grateful that I was granted the Cunneen Fellowship to further my career goals and finally be able to give back to the community.  I have opportunities that I have never imagined for myself, especially coming from Georgia, where there aren’t many.  I have not let my circumstances limit me.”