Graduate Student Wins Andrew Marks Student Advocacy Award

“I believe I won the award due to the immense efforts I put into supporting a multitude of vulnerable populations,” Foss said.

Samantha Foss, a master of social work candidate at Texas State University, has been honored with the inaugural Andrew Marks Student Advocacy Award by the Texas Field Educators Consortium.

The bi-annual statewide award is given in memory of Andrew Marks, a senior clinical lecturer at Texas State. Foss was recognized for her advocacy work, especially with vulnerable populations and the LGBTQ community.

“I believe I won the award due to the immense efforts I put into supporting a multitude of vulnerable populations,” Foss said. “I advocated with phone calls, emails, protests, rallies, legislative visits and social media through partnering with local organizations and through personal efforts.”

Foss has volunteered for the Texas Freedom Network, where she advocated for LGBTQ rights, and for the State Coalition for Family Violence, working with the survivors of domestic violence.

“This award brings affirmation that the work I am doing in our community has an impact that is valuable and recognized,” Foss said. “Not only does it offer validation to me as an advocate, but it will allow me an opportunity to present myself as an outstanding student advocate in Texas.”

The award is given to one bachelor’s student and one master’s student in a social work program. Students self-nominate and provide a brief description of an advocacy effort they have undertaken to make a change at a local, state or national level. Each nomination must be co-signed by a faculty member in the social work program at a university in Texas.

The award commemorates the work of Marks, who had a long history of advocacy in Texas. Marks worked for NASW from February 1998 to June of 1999 as the program coordinator. Later, as a professor at Texas State, Marks encouraged students to be politically active and to be advocates within the social work profession.

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,694 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 184,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.