Photo by Tom Kimmell

Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends,

Every Sunday afternoon, a line of homeless people gathers behind Shove Chapel for a meal at the Colorado College Community Kitchen. The brainchild of Becky Manchester ’95 when she was a student here, Colorado Springs’ only Sunday soup kitchen has served up meals for more than a decade — and it is entirely student-run.

This is but one example of the ways in which CC students — as well as faculty, staff, and alumni — give to their community and to those less fortunate. When our students engage in conversation with homeless people, tutor children in local schools, build homes during block breaks, or interview AIDS patients for a biochemistry class, they put human faces on social problems. Their encounters often take them out of their comfort zones and inspire them to action, because the sometimes-theoretical learning they attain in the classroom acquires new relevance and illumination. As one sophomore put it, “Working with kids at East Middle School (tutoring Spanish-speaking students) connects me to the real world, and I’m able to transfer what I care about and what I’ve learned.”

In this issue of the Bulletin, you will read about a great range of efforts — from “traditional” volunteerism to community-based course work and curricular focus on systemic societal change. The Center for Service and Learning (formerly the Center for Community Service), civic engagement and community-based learning, and the Public Interest Fellowship Program are embodiments of one of CC’s core values: to encourage engagement and social responsibility at local, national, and global levels.

In a time when devastating natural disasters are compounding already-deep human suffering around the world, I believe reading about these initiatives will give you some measure of inspiration and hope for a better future.

Sincerely,

Richard F. Celeste

Help CC students find opportunity on the front lines of a changing world.
Support public interest fellowships at publicinterest@ColoradoCollege.edu