Engaging a Changing World
Earlham College
801 National Road West
Richmond, IN 47374
CAMPUS AT A GLANCE (brief description)
The mission of Earlham College, an independent, residential college, is to provide the highest quality undergraduate education in the liberal arts, including the sciences, shaped by the distinctive perspectives of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). A basic faith of Friends is that all truth is God's truth; thus Earlham emphasizes: pursuit of truth, wherever that pursuit leads; lack of coercion, letting the evidence lead that search; respect for the consciences of others; openness to new truth and therefore the willingness to search; veracity, rigorous integrity in dealing with the facts; application of what is known to improving our world.
At Earlham College this education is carried on with a concern for the world in which we live and for improving human society. The College strives to educate morally sensitive leaders for future generations. Therefore Earlham stresses global education, peaceful resolution of conflict, equality of persons, and high moral standards of personal conduct.
KEY FACTS
Location: about 70 miles east of the state capital, Indianapolis
Click here for directions from main highways
Enrollment: 1,194
Other interesting tidbits:
72% of the student body participate in an off-campus study experience
Earlham graduates are well prepared for further study; nearly half of Earlham alumni graduating in the last 10 years enrolled in graduate or professional school.
BONNER PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
Name of Campus-Wide Center: Bonner Center for Service and Vocation
Relevant website: www.earlham.edu/bcsv
Type of Program: Bonner Scholars
Year Began: 1992
Bonner Program website:www.earlham.edu/bonner
Number of Bonner Scholars: 60
Active in Bonner AmeriCorps Ed Award:
Active in Other AmeriCorps Ed Award:
Active in Learn & Serve CBR:
Active in FIPSE Civic Ed Certficate/Minor:
KEY CONTACTS
President: Dr. David Dawson
Bonner Coordinator: Jana Schroeder
Enrollments and Exits: Mia Nickel
Bonner Senior Intern(s): Leila Hunter, Jared Patton
Bonner Congress Representatives: Cara Farris, Rosa Friedrichs Leila Hunter,
Other: The EC Bonner Team
MORE ABOUT US (our partners, trips, structure, best or unique practices)
Earlham’s Bonner Scholars Program is characterized by motivated students eager to make a difference in the Richmond/Wayne County area, their home communities, and in other communities they visit while participating in off campus study and summer service. When the Bonner Scholars Program first came to Earlham College in 1992 the campus was already known for its dedication to community service; founded in 1974 the Earlham Volunteer Exchange is one of the oldest continuously operating student-run community service organizations in the country. Today the Earlham Volunteer Exchange and the Bonner Scholars Program work together to foster an environment in which students not only perform community service, but become actively engaged in the issues and causes behind their service. Bonner Scholars at Earlham College serve as leaders both on and off campus, and have been at the heart of many community and campus movements throughout the years.
ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
During the 2009-2010 year we were excited by the number of students who undertook challenging service that connected their academic interests and abilities with projects to benefit our local community. Kumar Jensen, ’12, for example, combined his interests in community development and planning with his knowledge of Spanish and his dedication to Richmond’s Latino community and Amigos, the organization that provides services to that community into a self-designed, independent study called Latino Immigration and Community Development in Richmond, Indiana. Kumar designed and implemented a survey of Richmond’s Latino community aimed at describing and better understanding the demographics of this community, the services currently being accessed and the community’s greatest needs. With the help of eight volunteers trained by Kumar, he collected responses from 62 individuals representing 300 family members. The data collected is already being used by Amigos to guide their planning of services and activities and is helping them to provide more accurate and much more up-to-date information about Richmond’s Latino community to others, including service providers, in the community. Kumar presented information about his findings at an All-Bonner meeting and discussed his research methodology and findings in workshops at Earlham’s first annual student research conference held in April 2010 and the Bonner Summer Leadership Institute at Berea College in June 2010.
A second highlight of the year occurred when three Earlham students, two of whom are Bonner Scholars, were chosen as one of six teams to present at the Debating for Democracy (D4D) conference sponsored by Project Pericles in New York City this spring. Hannah Hale Leifheit, ’11, Mary Jones, ’12, and Conor Hall, ’13, argued for passage of the Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA) of 2009 which would make it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. The six teams were chosen on the basis of the quality of the analysis and research demonstrated in a letter composed to their Congressperson. The team argued their case before a panel of former elected officials including U.S. senators. The selection of the Earlham team’s letter from 63 submitted was particularly noteworthy because Earlham was invited to join Project Pericles in the fall of 2009.
Hannah Hale Leifheit, ’11, Mary Jones, ’12, and Conor Hall, ’13, debating at the Debating for Democracy conference sponsored by Project Pericles.
Finally, this past year witnessed a bumper crop of Earlham Bonner service projects related to community gardening and teaching healthy eating habits. Perhaps not coincidentally, in the fall Earlham’s faculty approved the addition of an Environmental Studies major at Earlham which incorporates an awareness of place and creating vibrant, sustainable, local communities. This year Bonners at two different sites worked to create or restore community gardens. Katrina Cohoe, ’12, researched and carried out the steps necessary to restore the soil in a garden at Cope Environmental Center where the soil’s nutrients had been depleted by several years of use without someone overseeing regular garden maintenance. The garden is used in the summer by several community and youth programs. A new community garden was created (including a rain barrel constructed by volunteers) at the Townsend Community Center to help teach children in the after school and summer programs about growing vegetables that can be used in healthy and tasty dishes. Both Cope and Townsend had a Bonner Scholar working with their garden project during the summer of 2010 while another Bonner joined the volunteer staff of a large community gardening project in Oakland, California.
Katrina Coho '12 working in the garden at Cope Environmental Center
2010-2011 ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
2009 ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
SPRING 2009 INITIATIVES
Serve 2.0
BWBRS
Bonner AmeriCorps
Issue-Based Research
Check Out the Earlham Bonner Wiki Page!
Student Leadership Planning:
Click here for Congress Leadership Plans:
Earlham Congress Action Planning