Justice, education and advocacy propel Alexander Campbell – VCU News

By Joan Tupponce

Framed by his experience in elementary school, Alexander Campbell knows the feeling of injustice. He wants everyone who has suffered a similar injustice to be heard, and he wants to help, now and in the future. 

A senior in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Honors College, which emphasizes experiential learning, Campbell is working full-time for Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker in the Virginia General Assembly, a role that developed after an internship with her last spring in which he conducted research, met with lobbyists and helped lobby the delegate’s colleagues. The recent fall semester featured an internship in U.S. Sen. Mark Warner’s Richmond office.

But Campbell, who is double-majoring in political science and criminal justice, was no stranger to the political process. In 2015, he pushed the General Assembly to pass legislation regarding seclusion and restraint in public elementary and secondary schools in Virginia. His work included testifying to state legislators at the age of 9. He earned a national award for disability rights advocacy from the Council for Exceptional Children for his advocacy, and the legislation became effective in 2019.

“I am a student with a disability. I had accommodations at school, but they weren’t always followed,” Campbell said.

His advocacy continued through middle school, including work on seclusion and restraint legislation at the federal level through U.S. Rep. Don Beyer. And as a freshman at Powhatan High School, Campbell led a student petition to ban students publicly displaying the Confederate flag – a ban the school board unanimously approved.

Campbell began looking at colleges while he was completing his dual-enrollment program in high school. The first one he visited was VCU.

“I toured about a dozen, but I kept going back to VCU. I liked being in a city, and I liked the diversity. Being from Powhatan, I wanted a different demographic experience,” he said.

Campbell embraced the experiential emphasis of the Honors College, and his double-major was spurred by a longtime interest in political science and a newfound appreciation for “the varied aspects of criminal justice” that professor Amy Cook, Ph.D., highlighted in her Introduction to Criminal Justice class in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.

This past spring, Campbell’s Political Science Mentorship course included serving as a teaching assistant for professor Alexandra Reckendorf, Ph.D., in her U.S. Parties and Elections class. Reckendorf, associate chair of the Department of Political Science in the College of Humanities and Sciences, praised her protégé’s humility and intellectual curiosity.

“Alex and I had standing meetings, he recorded mini-lectures, and he helped me create answer keys for assignments,” Reckendorf said. “He accepts that he doesn’t have all the answers and makes sure to try to connect with faculty and other students in order to better understand course material and diverse perspectives.”

Campbell has been busy outside his own studies, serving as treasurer of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society, president of the Pre-Law Society and teaching assistant for Honors College professor Mary Boyes (research writing) and instructor Cheryl Edley-Worford (flourishing). He also works as an admissions ambassador for the Honors College and the Department of Political Science, which he calls “peer leadership opportunities and the chance to help other students.”

Off campus, Campbell is a citizen member of the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities, appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in August 2023. Campbell also serves as secretary of the board for the Arc of Virginia, one of the state’s leading disability-rights advocacy organizations.

Campbell’s recent past – and his future – include geographic change. A study abroad program in Cork, Ireland, at the University College Cork allowed him to take classes in criminology and government in his grandmother’s homeland. And when he graduates from VCU in May, new territory awaits.

“I have accepted a post-grad job to work for Teach for America and teach elementary school children who live on native land in South Dakota,” Campbell said, noting the idea was inspired by his recent summer internship working with students in Memphis, Tennessee, who were struggling to read on grade level.

“I also got to learn about educational policy, and that is what allowed me to get in the Teach for America program,” he said. “We studied the Civil Rights Movement and how that relates to educational inequities in Memphis.”

Following his time with Teach for America, Campbell plans to attend law school and eventually practice special education law. As he looks ahead, Campbell is particularly grateful for the VCU mentorship of Boyes, Reckendorf and Nancy Morris, Ph.D., criminal justice program chair in the Wilder School.

“I feel like they push me, which is something I really like,” he said. “They have been a huge support. I can see in them the passion they have for students and for their fields.”

Reckendorf believes that Campbell will share that same passion in whatever career he pursues.

“His kindness will open a lot of doors because people want to surround themselves with genuinely good people,” she said, “especially in politics where that’s sometimes lacking.”