Lauren Hawkinson advocates for others
The Graduate and Professional Student Government president would like to see a graduate student Bill of Rights.
Lauren Hawkinson is a doctoral student in the UNC School of Medicine’s health sciences department. She became president of Carolina’s Graduate and Professional Student Government in April 2023.
At age 14, Hawkinson tore her ACL and discovered the field of athletic training. She followed that interest to a master’s degree in athletic training from Carolina. After working for several years as an athletic trainer, she returned to Carolina to pursue her doctorate in human movement science.
Her research focuses on youth ACL injury prevention. She hopes to someday bring her knowledge of implementation science and public health into sports medicine and to help translate research into injury prevention programs.
Continue reading for a discussion with Lauren Hawkinson:
Why did you first get involved in graduate student government?
I’ve always been involved in student government, literally since middle school. When I was working in Wisconsin, I served on the governmental affairs committee for the Wisconsin Athletic Trainers Association and worked with legislators to update our Practice Act.
At Carolina, I was a senator in my second year. In my third year, I was director of employment affairs, and this year I’m president.
Why did you decide to run for president?
I got to know Theodore Nollert, the president last year, and he gave me some background on what the position entails.
I’ve always been an advocate for others. When I was an athletic trainer, I was advocating for my student athletes, because we sometimes forget that they’re students and human beings before they’re athletes. Part of my role was to advocate for their well-being. Now graduate student well-being is important to me. So when I saw the opportunity to use this platform to improve the well-being of graduate students across campus, that was the main motivation to run.
What has been the highlight of your time as president?
I am excited about the connections that I’ve made with the administration and the discussions we’ve had about improving the well-being of graduate students here on campus. I’m looking forward to some of the next steps and the projects that we are on the cusp of launching.
What are your goals for the rest of your term?
I’d like to see a graduate student Bill of Rights outlining what students should expect in their graduate school experience. That encompasses the academic side and the research or teaching side: time off, hours they are expected to be in the lab, academic support and guidance. Those are just a few examples. I would also like to have a way to back up that Bill of Rights and make sure that we’re holding people accountable. I’d like to make sure that we have contracts that clearly outline expectations for both graduate students and their advisers.
What would you like the Carolina community to know about graduate students?
I’d like people to know how much blood, sweat and tears that graduate students put into this university. We care about the university, and we work really hard every day to produce research and teach undergraduate students and get that research out to the wider community. We put a lot of work in, and I think oftentimes we are overlooked regarding that work. It’s important for people to remember that graduate students are here and we care, and we’re an important piece of the research that UNC produces.
