St. John’s Alum Makes Her Mark
Through Service and Academics
As Yvette Clairjeane ‘10C, sets out on her
post-graduate career, she brings with her the academic and
leadership skills she developed at St. John’s University. A
Government and Politics major, she not only maintained an
above-average GPA, but also was instrumental in developing
initiatives giving students a voice in St. John’s decision-making
process.
These initiatives grew out of her service with
Student Government, Inc. where she rose to become an Executive
Board member. Ultimately, her leadership talents merged with her
academic achievements when she was asked to join the President’s
Honor Society —St. John’s highest honor.
Born in the U.S., Yvette spent the first six
years of her life in Haiti before her family moved to Brooklyn’s
culturally diverse Crown Heights neighborhood. This background made
St. John’s an attractive choice. “I decided to pick St. John’s
because of its reputation for multiculturism, its academic
excellence and its Vincentian and Catholic mission,” she said. “In
particular, the University’s emphasis on community service and its
tradition of giving back to those less fortunate made it the place
for me.”
Yvette participated in a variety of service
activities reflecting her interests and values. These included
working at soup kitchens in Rome, helping domestic abuse victims as
a member of the Ron Brown Pre-Law Summer Prep Program and interning
at the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, where she
worked with disadvantaged female victims of crime.
She also took part in the University’s Women
in Leadership Certificate Program and provided service in Lourdes,
New Orleans and Philadelphia. “Helping Hurricane Katrina victims
was especially gratifying,” she said.
“St. John’s taught me to value hands-on
service in all its different forms — big, small, local and
global. I now understand that this is what St. Vincent de Paul
meant when he talked about serving the needy with the strength of
our arms and the sweat of our brow,” said Yvettte.