The Office of Engaged Learning develops student leaders by working with Lawrence faculty, staff, and students to create and sustain connections between the academic curriculum and community service.  We work closely with our partners at the Volunteer and Community Service Center and within the greater Fox Cities community to nurture projects that connect the liberal arts to public service and civic engagement.

Celebrating Success

2012-2013 has been a standout year for community-engaged learning at Lawrence!

Lawrence students, faculty, and staff have been working with community partners all year, and as we look back we see so many exciting things we'd like to share with you. We hope you've been keeping us with us on our Facebook page and reading about us whenever we turn up in Lawrence Today. Here are a few highlights of the year:

• With a grant from Wisconsin Campus Compact, AmeriCorps*VISTA Olivia Hendricks '12 recruited a lively and talented group of Lawrence students to help her launch the SAY program at the Downtown Appleton Teen Center of the Boys and Girls Club of the Fox Cities. Lawrence students have been working with local teens to create leadership development programs focused on college access and readiness. We received a third year of grant funding and look forward to working with our partners at the Boys and Girls Club to help this program grow!
• Lawrence's partnerships with Riverview Gardens, a community development project located just across the river from the Lawrence campus, continue to thrive. Lawrentians are contributing to Riverview as volunteers and researchers, creators of new outreach programs, and more. Next year promises to be another amazing step forward for this partnership devoted to improving the wellbeng of the Appleton community through access to fresh local food, job training, and ecological restoration.
• Lawrence students continue to do community-based research, internships, and volunteering with nonprofit partners include Harbor House, Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities, Heckrodt Wetlands Reserve, Emergency Shelter of the Fox Cities, the Trout Museum of Art, and the History Museum at the Castle. Lawrence students have also been active with organizations that work to assist communities overseas in Rwanda, Haiti, and Sierra Leone, to name just a few. 
• Lawrence's pilot student documentary program, the Civic Life Project, launched its first set of filmmakers under the direction of documentary filmmakers Catherine Tatge '72 and Dominique Lasseur. Films focused on homelessness among veterans, undocumented immigrant youth, Hmong culture in the Fox Cities, and the bullying that local LGBT youth must confront. The Civic Life Project will run for a second year in the fall term at Lawrence, so watch for another set of films.

The Corporation for National and Community Service recognized Lawrence yet again for our dedication to the common good by naming us to the President's Community Service Honor Roll. We are grateful for all the people in the Fox Cities and beyond who have worked with us to achieve common goals, including the generous support of the Suzanne and Dick Pieper Family Foundation, the MIelke Foundation, the Mellon Foundation and the many individual donors who have provided support to students pursuing careers in education.

See you in the Fall!

Up to $5000 for Student Projects

Thursday, January 10th, 2013 at 1:36 pm

LU Juniors: The Mita Sen Award for Societal Impact offers up to $5000 to support projects with the potential to improve society. Applications are due March 1. Please get in touch with Dean Lunt in Sampson House or Professor Rico if you have questions or would like an application.

Discuss Diversity on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Wednesday, November 14th, 2012 at 10:12 am

Every year, Lawrence’s commemoration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gets better. For students, faculty, and staff, this is a day to learn, serve, reflect and celebrate. This year, our day includes an opportunity for a campus-wide discussion of race and diversity.

Students are invited to read Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?  by Beverly Daniel Tatum, a book that encourages open discussions of racial issues. Is self-segregation something that should be fixed or supported? How do issues of race, discrimination and privilege affect us all? How can we open the door to more productive conversations?  Students, staff and faculty will gather to participate in a discussion of Tatum’s book, including how her insights might help us think about race in relation to the Lawrence community. FREE books to students who sign up before break at www.lawrence.edu/dept/student_dean/volunteer. Sponsored by: Volunteer and Community Service Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs, President’s Committee on Diversity Affairs.

Brown Bag Lunch: Service Learning in Senegal

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 at 1:49 pm

Bring your lunch and join Eilene Hoft-March and Monica Rico for an informal discussion about how service learning was introduced into the French department’s Senegal program last spring. Students enriched their Senegal experience by volunteering for several different nonprofit groups and engaged in focused discussion and reflection about their service. Come learn more and bring lots of questions along with your lunch!

Thursday, November 1, 11:10 am in the Runkel Conference Room, Warch Campus Center.