Albion College
Community Service-Student Organizations
Presidential Statement on Civic Engagement - Peter T. Mitchell, President of Albion College
As articulated in our statement of purpose, the faculty, staff and students of Albion College understand a liberal arts education to be "an education in active citizenship and service." While the classroom is a core part of the Albion experience, education gains relevance when it is put to use in the context of community and civic engagement. The life of meaning and purpose, the most enduring and important outcome of a liberal arts education, becomes reality when what we have learned in classrooms and laboratories is brought to bear upon concrete tasks and situations, then re-examined and reconsidered in light of our desire to improve the human condition. This synthesis of engagement in the classroom and in the community is the foundation for the development of effective leadership in all fields in the 21st century.
Albion faculty members have developed a number of creative ways to involve their students in this classroom/community engagement. One curricular offering that is developing its own legacy is Building Assets in Middle School Girls, begun four years ago by Professor of Sociology, Leonard Berkey, Professor of Psychology Barbara Keyes, and Albion Middle School's counselor, Sandra Hood. The college students participating in this program work with local middle school students to enhance their self-esteem, foster more pro-social behavior, and improve their school attendance, performance, and goal-setting skills. This program requires not only that the college students commit a substantial amount of time to working with the middle-school girls, but also that they participate in a year-long research seminar. The seminar introduces students to a broad range of literature on adolescent development, as well as relevant methodologies, and guided analysis of their experiences. Many Building Assets "alumnae" have now entered graduate programs in social work, sociology, counseling, and policy analysis where they will be able to make significant contributions to the welfare of young people in the future.
Other examples of the integration of community engagement with classroom experience abound. Dr. Myron Levine's First Year Seminar, Volunteerism, Community, and Citizenship leads students through an exploration of the tension between individualism and community in American society while they experience those issues first hand by volunteering in Albion area community organizations. Led by Dr. Timothy Lincoln, Albion faculty and students have collaborated for several years with the Calhoun County Conservation District to monitor the water quality in nearby Rice Creek. With funding from the Federal Clean Water Act, many science students have spent their summers testing the measurable characteristics of the creek, while history students have uncovered details of creek management in the past and political science students have prepared and submitted position papers to state agencies on the environmental policies.
Nor does civic engagement require faculty leadership. Early in her college career, pre-med student Elizabeth Mettler put together a coalition of many different campus groups that worked together to build two Habitat for Humanity houses in the city of Albion. We believe that Albion may be the first to achieve this accomplishment with exclusively college-related labor and college-related fund raising. Now a senior, Elizabeth is writing an honors thesis entitled Albion College's Relationships with the Albion Community Through Service Learning. She also was the recipient of the 2002 Governor's top award for Community Service - Ages 19-35.
In these ways and many others, the Albion College community brings to life the theme of our long-range vision, Liberal Arts at Work. By integrating the best of the liberal arts tradition with experiential learning in a variety of forms, we transform not only individual lives, but the workplace and society.