Bonner Foundation  •  10 Mercer Street, Princeton, NJ 08540  •  609-924-6663 office  •  609-683-4626 fax  • info@bonner.org

In the third decade of the Bonner Program we must revitalize our campuses, reminding our colleagues of our values, the common commitments.  Let’s work to integrate civic engagement into our college’s daily practices, by truly embracing diversity, fighting for social justice, and realizing the beauty of reciprocity in partnerships with the community.  Along with us, our community partners are educators and are instrumental in these efforts; so let’s invite them into our classrooms to discuss how their organizations address the challenges of the 21st century. 

In this time of economic and environmental challenges, we must be at the forefront of connecting organizations and resources to address the needs of our communities.  In Oberlin, the College and City are collaborating on an initiative to further environmentally sustainable economic growth.  As a result of this work, the City and College were selected for the Climate Positive Development Program.  We are one of 18 cities worldwide that partnered with the Clinton Climate Initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council.

Oberlin is committed to diversity, and the College meets the financial aid needs of all admitted students.  This is social justice, and we must make sure that we continue these policies at all our schools.  Our financial aid policies should be generous to people who cannot otherwise afford to attend our schools.  Through the Bonner program, we are able to offer students an excellent education that truly prepares them for rich and meaningful professional and personal lives.

Let’s move our programs to central campus, both physically and intellectually, leading our entire community—students, professors and administrators—to address the needs of our neighbors, our nation, and our world both within and outside the classroom.  We need to find ways to integrate community engagement into more disciplines and construct stronger interdisciplinary collaborations.

Administrators, professors, presidents: let’s empower and support our Bonner Scholars and Bonner Leaders, who may still feel marginalized on our campuses, by celebrating their work campus-wide.  At Oberlin, we have a Bonner program that respects community and relationship building with an ‘open door’ policy.  Our Bonners know that the director and leadership team are eager to help them as they work in the community, but most importantly, they know we support them.

Last fall, one student decided that the Bonner Foundation needed a new Common Commitments video.  She wanted to present how our schools are currently implementing the commitments.  ChiChi Nieves collaborated with two other seniors and acquired $2,750 from the Bonner Foundation to purchase the video equipment and media software, as well as finance their travel to fourteen Bonner schools.  Their video represents who we are as the Bonner Program and we hope it inspires more Bonners to visit other campuses and learn the many ways we engage in service. 

Bonner programs encourage students to pursue that important, if fleeting idea, dream, or calling by helping them build the knowledge, leadership, and networking skills they need for success.  With continued substantial and critically important financial support from the Bonner Foundation, students can cultivate their passions and change the world.  Let’s recommit to the service movement through its many important, different, yet interconnected expressions including direct service, service learning, community organizing, activism, and public policy. Let’s make today our Bonner Recommitment.