Location: Charleston, SC
Enrollment: 10,506 undergraduate, 1,217 graduate students
Other interesting tidbits:
Student-faculty ratio: 16:1
Countries represented: 63
Majors: 56
Minors: 73
Average class size: 26
BONNER PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
Name of Campus-Wide Center: Center of Civic Engagement
Website: http://blogs.cofc.edu/volunteer/bonner
Type of Program: Leader Program
Year Began: 2008
YouTube Channel:http://youtube.com/cofcbonner
Blog: http://cofcbonner.blogspot.com
Number of Bonner Leaders: 30
Active in Bonner AmeriCorps Ed Award: 22
KEY CONTACTS
President: George Benson
Center for Civic Engagement Director: Stephanie Visser vissers@cofc.edu
Bonner Director: Laura Mewbourn mewbournle@cofc.edu
Bonner Senior Interns: Eliza Blades emblades@cofc.edu
Elizabeth Burdette meburdet@cofc.edu
Bonner Congress Representatives: Patrice Witherspoon witherspoonpn@g.cofc.edu
Katie Kerns kernska@g.cofc.edu
Jillian Loftis loftisjb@g.cofc.edu
MORE ABOUT US
Our Bonner Program, in the words of our Bonner Leaders:
"WE ARE A DIVERSE STUDENT GROUP STRIVING TO CHANGE THE COMMUNITY THROUGH DEDICATED ENGAGEMENT, EMPOWERMENT, AND CONTINUED DIRECT SERVICE."
-The Bonner Team
A Brief History of Our Program
In the course of our six years as a program, we have grown from the original seven students to thirty. Started by two College of Charleston students who learned about the program at the IMPACT Conference and brought back the idea to Stephanie Visser, Director of the Center for Civic Engagement, our program is still committed to being student-led. In the past five years, we have engaged our campus in issues our Bonners are passionate about, such as nutrition and preventing child abuse, through Engage and Empower events planned by Bonners. We have traveled across the nation and even internationally on trips based on the Alternative Break curriculum. We are committed to working alongside a variety of non-profits in the Charleston community, including Darkness to Light, Metanoia, WINGS for Kids, Hope Lodge, Charleston Parks Conservancy, Lowcountry Food Bank, and Healthlinks at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Recap of Last Year
Two third-year Bonners participated in study abroad programs in Spain and Italy. A second-year Bonner participated in the Disney College Program as Tinkerbell. The freshmen and sophomores returned to Puerto Rico during Spring Break to serve in El Yunque rainforest and with two Boys and Girls Clubs. The juniors and seniors spent a couple weeks during Winter Break in Rabat, Morocco, at a variety of sites: a school for street children, an activity center in a children’s hospital, and the special needs ward of an orphanage. Bonner Leaders from our school participated in a variety of conferences, including the White Privilege Conference and the Student Leadership and Diversity Conference at the University of South Carolina. We were proud to see six Bonners graduate from the College and the Program, moving forward to take on a wealth of different opportunities.
A Look Ahead at This Year
The freshmen and sophomores will be traveling to Washington, DC for a Fall Break trip focusing on hunger and homelessness awareness. The juniors and seniors will be traveling to Guatemala during Spring Break with hopes of forming a sustainable partnership with an organization and community. Thirteen new Bonners are joining our group, bringing with them fresh ideas, perspectives, voices, and enthusiasm. With such a large group of new Bonners, our Junior Council is emphasizing group morale and Bonner love! Weekly training and enrichment meetings will focus on diversity, privilege, social issues relevant to our community and beyond, and leadership development. Education is, naturally, very relevant to our lives, but more than that, many of our community partners work with education issues. This year, with a new mission statement, we have committed to education for ourselves and those around us.
Stay tuned for more updates…
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