ESU boosts partnerships, encourages community service with new program

For ten Emporia State University students, the coming school year brings an opportunity to learn more about their host community while helping improve it. ESU is one of 50 institutions nationwide joining the Bonner Leader Program.

“It’s a program that encourages college students to get involved in their communities by offering a scholarship for their community service efforts,” said Blythe Eddy, associate director of ESU’s Memorial Union. The ten students selected to participate will earn $1,000 scholarships for 300 hours of community service performed over a year’s time.

The program uses AmeriCorps funding to supply the scholarships.

Not to be confused with the Bonner and Bonner Diversity Lecture Series at ESU, Eddy notes that the Bonner Leader Program was founded by the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation in Princeton, N.J. The Bonner and Bonner Diversity Lecture Series at ESU honors Drs. Thomas and Mary Bonner, longtime Emporia State faculty members.

“We’ve been working on the application process and setting up partnerships with community organizations where students can go to complete their 300 hours of community service in the Bonner Leader program,” said Jen Groves, an ESU graduate student who serves as the community service coordinator.

Jasmine Green, an ESU freshman from Emporia, is the program’s student leader. A veteran of extensive community service work while a student at Emporia High School, Green is excited about the program’s potential. “I’m not one of those students who needs motivation to do community service. The exciting thing about this program is that students will be able to take the lessons they learn from the community service they do and help make their lives more fulfilling,” said Green.

For more information on the Bonner Leader Program at ESU, contact Eddy by phone at 620-341-5481, or email.

Last Updated November 3, 2009>