By: Em Acuña
For the past year, from July 2024 and finishing in July 2025, Honors College senior JP Neri has been a scholar in the John Robert Lewis Scholars and Fellows program of the Faith & Politics Institute. Neri entered Appalachian State and the Honors College as a Chancellor’s Scholar in the Fall 2021 semester and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and minors in political science and leadership studies in May 2025. Neri learned about the John Robert Lewis Scholars and Fellows program from Dr. Phillip Ardoin, a faculty member in the Department of Political Science, who thought it might be a good fit. Neri credits the Honors College for providing him with various support systems that helped him polish his application and share his story, which earned him this opportunity.
The John Robert Lewis Scholars and Fellows program was established in 2020 in memory of John Lewis, a Civil Rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia. The program aims to pass his legacy of nonviolence and getting in “good trouble” to new generations, both among young adults and adults in corporate leadership. This is a one-year program for scholars (undergraduate students like Neri), fellows (graduate students), and leaders (adults, corporate leaders). Despite the different classifications, each position has the same mission, which Neri explained as,
“It intends to develop skills of reconciliation and empathy, and to help young people develop the tools they need to foster hope and forgiveness in our communities. It is also intended to help us bridge the growing gap of partisanship and hate in America’s politics, realizing that we have more in common than we do different. Overall, it is a program that is grounded in love, hope, and compassion for our neighbors on both sides of the aisle, and it achieves these aims through dialogue and experiential learning from Civil Rights luminaries, academics, and public officials.”
Neri has been and still is a heavily involved student at Appalachian State, both in the Honors College and across the University. He was recently honored as one of the 2025 recipients of the W.H. Plemmons Leadership Medallion, named in honor of Dr. William H. Plemmons, the second president of Appalachian State University. This award of distinction recognizes the time, energy, skills, and commitment of individuals like Neri who excel in leadership roles that enrich the quality of student life here at App State. Some of the specific service positions he has held include: ASULead mentor, Student Government Association (SGA) president and representative for the Board of Trustees, and Student Orientation and Undergraduate Leader. Neri credits these roles in helping him connect with others from a variety of backgrounds and exposing him to different perspectives.
One of the responsibilities of the John Robert Lewis Scholars and Fellows program was that Neri and his cohort participated in two trips, one to Washington, D.C., for the Opening Convocation and one to Alabama for the Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage. These trips allowed Neri and other participants to engage in person and learn first-hand from a variety of guest speakers about the Civil Rights Movement and the federal government. Each of these trips was about a week and involved “reflection, discussion, and dialogue.” In this program, Neri and his cohort have been reckoning with the actions of our government in the past and the present. When asked about his biggest takeaway from the experience, Neri said, “I believe that the main benefit I have received from this fellowship is the courage to forgive.” The emphasis on positive social change and forgiveness has offered Neri a valuable perspective. He stated,
Forgiving those who harm us does not mean that they do not have to reckon with their actions, but it does mean that we refuse to allow those actions to hold power over us.
JP Neri (back row, fifth from left) and the other 2024-2025 John Robert Lewis Scholars, Fellows, and Leaders at the historic Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama.
Reflecting on his time as a John Robert Lewis Scholar, Neri says the fellowship has given him “permission to hope” and that “hopelessness does not exist unless you allow it.” Neri understands how intimidating it can be to get involved in programs like this. He recommends that fellow Honors students put themselves out there and rely on available support. Neri reflected:
The support network from faculty, staff, and Honors alumni has been invaluable, and the constant encouragement has helped me believe in myself and my abilities to succeed.
Neri graduated this past semester and defended his thesis, “Coming Home: An Oral History of Latino Community-Building in Boone, NC,” on Monday, May 5, 2025. His thesis aims to understand the lived experience of Latino immigrants and how they create community in a rural place, such as Appalachia. He also looked at myths of “whiteness” in Appalachia, “The narrative, perpetuated by popular culture like J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy harms diverse communities of the area and leads to harmful preconceptions of the region and its people.” In his thesis, he presents a new perspective on life in Boone and the resilience of immigrant communities in Appalachia and rural locations.
After graduation, Neri will be working as a secondary social studies teacher in Eastern Kentucky through the Teach for America program. This program is a partner organization to AmeriCorps and aims to address the teacher shortage in high-need areas.
