She recently made headlines with her protest against the illegality of gay marriage and again as one of the first recipients of the Barbara B. Hamilton Leadership and Service Award, but junior Alexa Van Vliet has been fighting for progressive causes since her sophomore year.

Van Vliet is the president of the Gay Straight Alliance, a volunteer for the Gender and Sexuality Center, on the student panel for S.A.F.E. training, a member of the multi-cultural affairs committee, a member of the Honors College and a resident assistant for West Vandenberg Hall on the Women’s Honor’s College floor.

When Van Vliet first came to OU in 2008, she was a studio art major who won an award for a painting she submitted to the Global Arts Exhibit. She also won an award in 2009 for a poem she submitted to the Ekphrasis poetry contest.

Now, as a psychology major and president of the GSA, she is constantly working towards raising awareness about the LGBT community on campus; fundraising for a variety of events — from Japan tsunami victims to Corey Jackson’s family; and petitioning for a number of political causes.

As the president of the GSA, Van Vliet has been involved in a number of different fundraisers on campus. She tied fleece blankets in December to benefit World AIDS Day, raised money for Corey Jackson’s family with a fundraiser, worked with Japan Club to raise money for flood and tsunami victims in Japan, gathered signatures to protest the stripping of Planned Parenthood’s federal funding, participated in the Tunnel of Oppression and put on a benefit concert to benefit the Ruth Ellis Center.

“I’m so impressed by her,” said Jo Reger, associate professor of sociology and women’s studies director. “When you see someone who has given so much energy beyond their school work because they want to make the place that they live, work or go to school a better place, I am always just so impressed by that. I think she’s a very energetic and smart person, and I am just really excited to see what she is going to accomplish in the future.

Van Vliet also personally organized a fundraiser to raise money and awareness about the flood that hit Pakistan in August.

“It was worth it,” Van Vliet said. “There were just so many people that didn’t know that it had happened, so even though there had been a lot more successful fundraisers than that, I think the most important thing was that people knew.”

She is currently working toward arranging a protest against Chick-fil-A, in hopes of removing them from campus, stating they promote an anti-gay agenda. She is also hoping to raise money to help support the GSC next year.

Van Vliet first got involved with the GSC during her sophomore year and says that adviser Melissa Pope was her inspiration for becoming a leader on campus.

“I was a pretty confused and lonely freshman like most people are, and I just found sophomore year that there had to be more to college … so the GSC just started off as a place that I liked to hang out at,” Van Vliet said. “The GSC adviser, Melissa Pope, she has really been my inspiration for wanting to become a leader on this campus.”

After graduation, Van Vliet would like to pursue graduate school in public administration or public health.

“I like the idea of working with nonprofits and maybe one day running for an elected office … I’d like to be a part of those movements that are just trying to make things better in Michigan,” Van Vliet said. “I would like to conduct anti-bullying programs that do have an LGBT focus, and start programs that would implement those in high schools and middle schools just to raise awareness about the LGBT community.”

She said she would like to one day petition for changes to be made to Michigan’s Elliot-Larsen Act, which allows for someone to be fired because of his or her sexual orientation.

But for now, she is just working toward making OU a better place.