Bonner Scholars program gives college students scholarships, work experience and academic recognition in exchange for community service
By Drew Schaefer
April 22, 2009
College admission no longer has to mean the end of participation in community service by high school students.
To encourage community engagement by college students, the Bonner Scholars program, provides scholarships as well as work experience that can lead to careers with community organizations.
More than 70 colleges and universities take part in the program, funded by the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation. At the University of Richmond, which boasts the largest single contingent of Bonner Scholars, 100 undergraduates each receive $2,500 a year in exchange for their verifiable community service.
Beginning in their freshman year, the scholars try out a wide array civic engagement roles. After an initial period of exploration, they choose the site where they can best serve the community, one that relates to their studies and interests.
Kimberley Dean, director of the university's Bonner Scholars, advocates an academic aspect of service work.
"We help students mix their service experience with their academic and career interests, so it's all integrated," says Dean.
An example is junior Kelly Behrend of Eastampton, N.J., who chose to work with Refugee and Immigration Services while teaching English as a Second Language programs in Richmond last year. Behrend was able to enhance her language skills, which are vital to her peace and conflict studies major. She worked with students whose native tongues included Gujarati, Chinese, Hindi and Arabic.
The impact of Bonner scholars on the community is clear.
"There are some of our service sites where the bulk of direct client interaction is performed by volunteers. A great example is National Student Partnership in Richmond, where there are between 10 and 15 student employees, 9 of whom are Bonner Scholars. The students work with low-income community members to help them secure housing, employment and other basic necessities.They have a great individual impact on the services that the organization provides," says Dean.
The Bonner program also supports the university's goal of serving its home city. Richmond's provost, Stephen J. Allred, says that it is "a key part of our community engagement efforts in Richmond and beyond."
Before the Bonner Foundation launched the scholars program, some college students might have opted to take paying internships with for-profit companies. Today, at colleges like Richmond, they have the chance to refine the sense of duty to community that they discovered in high school.
Encouraged at the university level, community service often becomes an integral part of graduates' lives. While many college students express interest in humanitarian careers, the hands-on experience they receive from the Bonner program shows them such work can be achieved.
Although not every student who continues community service in college will choose service work for a career, the experience shows them the need for, and impact of, serving society.
"It definitely changes the lens with which students view college and careers," says Dean.