Compassion for others at the heart of Honors College student’s research

Sydney Howell-Wampler was in a crunch to get things done in late spring.

The junior from Collinsville, Virginia, was one of 20 Radford University students whose research project proposals were accepted for this year’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF), given by the university’s Office of Undergraduate Research.

Typically, SURF recipients have 10 weeks to complete their projects. However, Howell-Wampler is presenting her findings in Belgrade, Serbia, at the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (UNPRME) Conference in October, forcing her to expedite the research process in order to get her materials to conference organizers in early June. 

The UNPRME deadline meant the rising junior’s research needed major accomplishments in just the first three weeks.

 “It was difficult because there was so much to cover,” she said.

Howell-Wampler’s research delves into the oppression women face in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban and looks for solutions by examining escape strategies and possible countries for asylum. 

UNPRME submissions need to be brief and concise, so she “had to choose what really stands out,” she said. 

The human rights issue in Afghanistan spoke to Howell-Wampler’s heart after she watched a video on the topic in a wicked problems course taught by Tay Keong Tan, a political science professor and director of International and Leadership Studies at Radford.

“I felt terrible for them immediately,” she said of the Afghan women. “You don’t hear much about it in the media, and when you do, it doesn’t really touch on what is happening to women there. It’s really important to me to bring light to that because I felt like it was kind of a forgotten issue.”

Howell-Wampler often posts about Afghan women’s oppression on social media “because it's not talked about enough,” she said, acknowledging she feels a responsibility to draw attention to the issue. “People would be upset if they knew about it.”

The criminal justice and political science major picked the topic in January, submitted her SURF proposal in February and spoke about her early findings at a Women’s History Month event on campus in March. Most recently, she presented a keynote address to high school students visiting the Radford campus for the annual summer residential Governor’s School for Visual and Performing Arts and Humanities.

The SURF program encourages students to make original, intellectual or creative contributions to a discipline. Each SURF award provides $6,000 to the student (half at the beginning of June and the second half at the beginning of August), $1,500 for the faculty mentor (paid at the beginning of August), and supplies. Tan is serving as Howell-Wampler’s mentor. 

“I'm really thankful for the opportunity,” she said of the SURF program. “It helps students who feel passionate about their research to keep working on it throughout the summer.” 

Throughout their UNPRME submission crunch time, Howell-Wampler researched and worked on her paper, meeting virtually with Tan on Fridays. The professor reviewed her work on weekends, returning comments to his student on Mondays. “I'd work on it again throughout the week,” she recalled, “and we just kind of repeated that process.”

Howell-Wampler is one of seven Radford students and alumni preparing for the Belgrade conference. Tan has taken students from the Wicked Society to the UNPRME conference the past two years – in Lisbon, Portugal, and Berlin, Germany, respectively – where they have presented their research and run a successful zombie apocalypse simulation to the delight of scholars in attendance. The group has won numerous awards for its work, which builds off solving wicked problems, a name given to the world’s most difficult-to-solve issues. 

Serving as vice president of the Wicked Society and pursuing research opportunities has helped Howell-Wampler find her place at Radford University. She’s also an Honors College student, serves as an ambassador for the university’s College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences and is a member of the fast-growing mock trial team.

“When I went to a mock trial interest meeting my first year, I knew I had found my people,” said Howell-Wampler, who credits criminal justice instructor and team coach Don Martin for her success and the team’s. “Then, I got into Wicked at the end of the fall semester, and that really helped me find my place even more.”

This summer, she is interning at U.S. Sen. Mark Warner’s office in Roanoke, Virginia. Her duties include assisting constituents who call the office with questions and issues they may be facing. 

“It’s really nice to be able to help people,” said Howell-Wampler, who has a big heart and enjoys helping others. “It's kind of always been my thing, you know. I want to see other people be happy and feel safe.”