Community-based learning programs are a modern take on longstanding programs

Back to All Stories
PhotoFinish_NewsStory_JUNE24

See more photos and stories about how students win when you contribute. Only seven days left to take part in the Photo Finish campaign!

Back in 1833, Jonathan Wade took his Colgate experience on a mission to Burma and started a tradition of community-based learning and engagement. In the past decade alone, the Max A. Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE) has sponsored more than 50 trips to more than 16 locations in the United States and abroad. More than 400 students have engaged with issues including public health, youth empowerment, disaster response, low-income housing, and education.

Here are just two of the many comments made by COVE team members who traveled to the island of St. Kitts, January 5–18, where they painted classrooms and built a gateway at a local school while connecting with residents and with each other.

We didn’t just come, work, and leave; we engaged with aspects of culture. I feel like Colgate as a group has influenced this community by showing how rewarding volunteerism can be, and I feel like I’ve been influenced by the way of life and culture on the island.
— Ashley Eve ’14

It was refreshing to be able to apply the materials that I have learned in my courses to the work we did. I think my majors (education and environmental studies) provided the framework and lens for this trip. I was constantly doing a comparative analysis of the United States and St. Kitts — seeing the theories that I have learned in a practical setting was enlightening.
— Jia Zheng ’14

PhotoFinish_gift-buttonA gift in support of community-based learning or any other initiative has an immediate impact on Colgate undergraduates. Please, visit colgate.edu/makeagift today, and show your support as we bring fiscal year 2014 to a photo finish.