At age 6, Franklin & Marshall senior Erin Maxwell attended her first protest.

A passion for civic engagement has followed since.

"Coming to F&M, I knew I was going to be a government major from the get-go, and I wanted to get involved with something that really made a difference," said Maxwell, a government and history double major on the pre-law track.

Tonight, she'll join 51 winter graduates of F&M as they accept their diplomas in a ceremony at Barshinger Center.

The path toward law school was a natural fit for Maxwell.

"I come from the D.C. area, so everyone there is politically electrified," said Maxwell, of Herndon, Va.

F&M connections run deep, too. She followed her older sister, Allison Maxwell '20, to campus. Her late grandfather, Robert Rathvon Maxwell '47, made his way to F&M after serving in World War II.

"It was the most prestigious school that (Allison) got into with the best financial aid. Being able to follow her here and have that same gift was really incredible," Maxwell said.

Allison was the former co-chair of F&M Votes, a position that Erin filled.

"That was really inspiring for me to see. We shared one year here together," (Erin) Maxwell said. The pair traveled to the Harvard National Campaign Conference in 2020 for student civic engagement training.

Maxwell is editor-in-chief of The College Reporter — following in the footsteps of her grandfather, a former student journalist. She is also the director of alumni engagement for Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and the director of events for John Marshall Pre-Law Honor Society.

"I'm involved in maybe too many things on campus," she joked.

She also completed a Hackman Research scholarship with F&M Global Barometers for Gay and Transgender Rights, founded by Professor of Government Susan Dicklitch-Nelson. Maxwell will continue working for the program virtually from Philadelphia, where she plans to move after graduation.

The Global Barometer program will soon partner with the Council for Global Equality, a Washington-based coalition of prominent U.S.-based human rights and LGBTQI advocacy organizations.

"That's probably the thing that I'm most proud of," Maxwell said of her research.

Beyond F&M, Maxwell is eyeing a career in corporate law. She was recently accepted into Georgetown University Law Center and New York University School of Law.