Extraordinary Engagement

Where many see a blank wall, Claire Baugher imagines beauty.

The USC Dornsife junior was volunteering at Blazers, an afterschool center for disadvantaged youth near USC’s University Park campus, when she noticed a bare space at the facility. An idea popped into her head — paint a mural at the site.

A psychology and political science major, Baugher discovered Blazers through a Friends and Neighbors Day event, organized by the USC Volunteer Center serving the surrounding community. Baugher and other USC volunteers returned a month later to begin the mural project.

But rather than painting the small space Baugher originally noticed, the group ended up beautifying an entire storage shed.

Claire Baugher and her team adorned part of the Blazers site with Los Angeles landmarks, including iconic images of the Hollywood sign, the Universal Studios globe and downtown L.A., seen here. Photo courtesy of Claire Baugher.

The group began by sketching an outline onto the wall. Then Baugher and friends filled in the design over the course of several months. Baugher adorned the site with Los Angeles landmarks, including iconic images of the Hollywood sign, the Universal Studios globe and a beach scene. She also added painted curtains, ultimately transforming the storage shed into a small theatre.

“It just enriches the students’ learning experience,” said Baugher of Long Island, N.Y.  “For students, it makes all the difference. It gets them engaged.”

Baugher’s work with Blazers earned her the 2013 Extraordinary Engagement Award, which Vice President for Student Affairs Michael L. Jackson presented to her at an awards dinner at Town & Gown in April.

“Claire deserved the award because of her willingness to step up,” said Joenique Rose, program manager for alternative breaks and community partners at the Volunteer Center. “We absolutely loved the mural and appreciated her thinking of something that would be beneficial to our community partner.”

Baugher has also pursued service through other USC organizations. She currently serves as USC Panhellenic Council philanthropy chair and vice president of external relations for the USC chapter of The World Is Just a Book Away (WIJABA), an organization that raises money to build libraries in developing countries. This past spring, Baugher used her Greek connections to assist WIJABA with a fundraiser, raising more than $15,000 for the construction of new libraries in Mexico and Indonesia.

USC Dornsife’s Claire Baugher painted part of a local afterschool center with iconic images of the Hollywood sign, the Universal Studios globe and a beach scene — and curtains to look like a theatre. She earned the 2013 Extraordinary Engagement Award. Photo by Lillian Insalata.

In addition to her volunteer projects, Baugher examines the academic and theoretical sides of philanthropy and leadership through her studies. A minor in critical approaches to leadership, Baugher said she enjoys investigating how humans participate in and contribute to society. In the fall, she will take “The Art and Adventure of Leadership,” taught by University Professor and Distinguished Professor Warren Bennis and USC President Emeritus Steven B. Sample.

This summer, Baugher is interning for Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in Washington, D.C., to learn about public policy. She also recently accepted a Teach for America position, which she will begin immediately after graduating from USC next year.

“Combining my internship experience with Teach for America, I have this mindset — change on a large scale, maybe in education reform,” she said. “I just want to position myself in a way to do something significant.”