College of Charleston

Page history last edited by Jazmin Dayse Garcia 10 months, 2 weeks ago

College of Charleston

160 Calhoun Street

Lightsey 203

Charleston, SC 29424-0001

(843) 953-5838

bonner@cofc.edu

www.cofc.edu

Now accepting applications for Fall 2011 incoming freshmen. Please visit the following link for more information and access to our application: http://blogs.cofc.edu/volunteer/bonner/

CAMPUS AT A GLANCE

The College of Charleston is a nationally recognized, public liberal arts and sciences university located in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770, the College is among the nation’s top universities for quality education, student life and affordability. The College offers a distinctive combination of a beautiful and historic campus, modern facilities and cutting-edge programs.

From a student perspective: The College of Charleston provides a great living and learning community! The college offers a variety of majors/minors while its location--beautiful Charleston, South Carolina--allows for endless learning experiences as we are surrounded by the history of one of the oldest cities in the nation. The relaxing beaches, great night life, tons of historic sites, and an array of festivals and cultural events means you'll never be bored living here!

KEY FACTS

Location: Charleston, SC

Enrollment: 10,000 undergraduate, 1,500 graduate students

Other interesting tidbits:

Student-faculty ratio: 13:1

Countries represented: 68

Majors: 46

Minors: 81

Average class size: 20.8

BONNER PROGRAM AT A GLANCE

Name of Campus-Wide Center: Center of Civic Engagement

Relevant website: http://blogs.cofc.edu/volunteer/bonner

Type of Program: Leader Program

Year Began: 2008

Bonner Program website: http://cofcbonner.pbwiki.com/FrontPage

Campus website: http://blogs.cofc.edu/volunteer/bonner

YouTube Channel:http://youtube.com/cofcbonner

Blog: http://cofcbonner.blogspot.com

Number of Bonner Leaders: 22

Active in Bonner AmeriCorps Ed Award: 22

2010-2011 ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

College of Charleston Year at a Glance

KEY CONTACTS

President: George Benson

Center Director:Stephanie Visser

Bonner Director: Stephanie Visser vissers@cofc.edu

Bonner VISTA: Tricia Smar bonner@cofc.edu

Bonner Senior Intern(s): Jazmin Dayse Garcia jdgarcia@g.cofc.edu

Bonner Congress Representatives: Shanell Ransom slransom@edisto.cofc.edu

Other: Jamilla Harper- Americorp Vista jamilla@pushingforward.org

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

Our Second Year:

In their second year of existence, the College of Charleston Bonner Leaders increased from seven Bonner Leaders to sixteen. They continued to create multiple initiatives that reached out to their fellow students, faculty, and community members while simultaneously building partnerships with the local, national, and international community. The Bonner Leaders formed a family, served their community, and brought awareness to the issue of HIV/AIDS. This year the Bonner Leaders chose HIV/AIDS as their issue to impact. Two events which were particularly powerful in establishing the Bonner Leaders as an active program that builds strong connections with all levels of communities: Awareness of the Unknown with local Upward Bound students and our second annual Engage and Empower week. The success of the events established the Bonner Leaders program as an important and valuable component of the College of Charleston.

First Year Trip:

During the Winter Break, many Bonner Leaders forwent the traditional holiday activities and instead chose to spend their time pursuing various service activities in New Orleans, Louisiana. While there, the Leaders worked with Project Lazarus to learn the daily routine of a HIV/AIDS patient, hosted a barbeque for patients, partnered with Camp ACE to promote HIV/AIDS prevention, sorted through food and clothing for the New Orleans Mission, and prepared dinner for the homeless. They even made time for a trip to the French Quarter and a chance to explore the city of New Orleans.

Awareness of the Unknown:

When the Bonner Congress Representative returned they were eager to get started on their BIG idea. The Bonner Leaders saw a need to educate high school students about HIV/AIDS and they met that need. Bonner Leaders partnered with College of Charleston Upward Bound program to bring awareness to a deadly disease, HIV/AIDS. All Bonner Leaders attended an educational meeting with a representative from Lowcountry AIDS Services. Juniors and seniors continued learning by researching HIV/AIDS issues that are relevant to our community. Bonner Leaders planned a curriculum with four classes to give Upward Bound students an overview of HIV/AIDS.

Engage and Empower:

The Bonner Leaders decided to end the year with a BANG! The second annual Engage and Empower week is a week long series of awareness events concluding with a Service Saturday. For five days, juniors and seniors in the Bonner program hosted a series of events designed to highlight the most concerning issues facing the Charleston community. These events fostered a dialogue between the students, faculty, and community members as to how best tackle Charleston's obstacles head on. Events included: a panel discussion on homelessness and housing issues, a spoken word event to bring awareness to HIV/AIDS, child abuse training sponsored by Darkness to Light, empowerment photography gala, and a service project to clean up a dental clinic . Over 150 students, faculty, and community members attended these events. The Bonner Leaders successfully brought awareness to multiple issues during the week.

Service Saturdays:

One Saturday each month all of the Bonners participate in a service saturday. The activity changes each month as mentor/mentee pairs choose and plan the projects.