Lauren Collins
Fall 2022 John Jay Fellow
Hometown: Orange County, California
College: Biola University
Degree: B.A., Communication Studies
Lauren Collins is from Orange County, California where her love for the beach and need for sunshine first developed (wish her luck in Philadelphia!). Growing up, she was shaped by the formative experiences of doing competitive dance and attending Lutheran schools for 15 years, where she was highly involved in both local and global missions work.
In the spring of 2022, Lauren graduated summa cum laude from Biola University with B.A. in Communication Studies. She was also a member of Biola’s Torrey Honors College—a classical liberal arts program where students read and discuss the great philosophical, historical, theological, and literary texts of the western canon. Lauren graduated from the honors college in the Order of Peter and Paul—a distinction awarded to students for being among the graduates with top 10% highest grades. Additionally, Lauren is a member of Biola’s Epsilon Kappa Epsilon honors society, an honor that faculty award to select students who demonstrate a combination of academic excellence, Christian character, and service to one’s community.
As a Communication Studies major with an emphasis in rhetorical studies, Lauren focused her projects on analyzing political rhetoric and understanding what a healthy political communication climate looks like in a Christian context. Inspired by her own transformative experience with classical education, Lauren conducted a qualitative study for her senior research project on how a Christian collegiate classical education impacts students’ perspective-taking in regard to socio-political matters. Lauren was a member of Lambda Pi Eta communication studies honors society and graduated with a departmental award for outstanding student of the year.
During her time at Biola, Lauren was a member of the American Enterprise Institute Executive Council for 2 years, playing an integral role in bringing about one of the largest ever turnouts for an AEI guest speaker at an Executive Council event. In the summer of 2021, Lauren was selected to participate in the American Enterprise Institute Summer Honors Program, where she took the course “May We Love Our Country? Political Loyalty and Christian Faith.” Additionally, she participated in The Heritage Foundation academy in the fall of 2021, completing a capstone paper on the history and future of the 2nd amendment. Her internship and work experience includes working as a legal assistant, interning on a primary congressional campaign, volunteering for the Los Angeles based non-profit The Ideos Institute, and working as administrative assistant and student ambassador for Biola’s Communication Studies department.
Lauren is considering attending law school to study constitutional law upon completing her fellowship at the John Jay Institute. Regardless, she hopes to pursue a future that is filled with endless learning and grappling in community with the important ideas that both have shaped and continue to shape our world, communities, and lives.