MEADVILLE, Pa. – June 3, 2008 – Allegheny College will host the Bonner Foundation’s Summer Leadership Institute 2008, June 4-7. More than 300 students, faculty and college administrators from across the country have registered for the program, which is titled “Summit on Political Engagement: Connecting Service to Politics and Politics to Service.”
“We are especially pleased to host this important event because we value our relationship with the Bonner Foundation and with our fellow ‘Bonner schools’ so much,” said Allegheny College president Richard Cook.
The Bonner Foundation’s initiatives engage students at 75 colleges and universities in improving the lives of individuals and communities. The foundation’s work strengthens student development and community impact while promoting civic engagement, community building, diversity, international perspective, spiritual exploration and social justice.
Exploring five pathways for action, advanced in Daniel M. Shea’s recent co-authored book, “Living Democracy,” participants will be challenged to make connections between the work of community service and the work of civic participation, specifically focusing on grassroots mobilization, lobbying, cultural change, elections and litigation. Shea is a professor of political science at Allegheny and director of the college’s Center for Political Participation.
Several national organizations are involved in the leadership institute, including representatives from CIRCLE (Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement), Project Pericles, Mobilize.org, the Roosevelt Institution and Teach for America.
The conference agenda also includes numerous forums and workshops featuring Allegheny programs: the Allegheny College Center for Experiential Learning, the Civic Engagement Council and the Center for Political Participation.
For more information about the Summit on Political Engagement, visit www.bonner.org.
For more information about the Allegheny College Center for Experiential Learning and the Bonner Leader program at Allegheny College, visit www.allegheny.edu/accel/.
Earlier this year, Allegheny College was selected as one of 25 schools nationwide invited to participate in the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Core Commitments program, which explores how higher education can foster engaged citizenship, teach personal and social responsibility, encourage a respect for diversity, cultivate excellence, and implement programs that support community engagement.
Allegheny College is also one of 10 original members of Project Pericles, which, in 2003, challenged colleges and universities to instill in students an abiding and active sense of social responsibility.
