Staff Profile
Robert Hackett
From the Heart of The Bonner Foundation: Elaine ...

In celebration of Elaine Wheeler's retirement, we honor her invaluable contribution to the Bonner Foundation. Her commitment and mentorship have been instrumental in our growth as a Foundation and the Network we have today. As she embarks on her retirement, we celebrate her legacy of dedication and look forward to the path she has paved for us.

From the Heart of The Bonner Foundation: Elaine Wheeler's Retirement Celebration
Robert Hackett
Announcing the Refreshed Bonner Wiki

With over three decades sharing campus examples, guides, and documents to download, the Bonner Foundation is excited to announce a recently updated Bonner Resources Wiki.

This summer, the five National Bonner Summer Interns at the Foundation — Anu Baskar (George Mason ‘24), Camila Guayasamin (The College of New Jersey ‘24), Dominique Dore (University of Houston ‘22), Mikaela Chin (High Point University ‘24) and Selah Ndouta (Capital University ‘22) — worked with the Foundation staff to refresh the look of the wiki’s homepage and, more importantly, update campus examples and other documents.

They devoted particularly attention to the Bonner Program Management and Community-Engaged Learning sections. In addition, Mikaela and Dominique also created a short video on how to navigate this wealth of knowledge.

Announcing the Refreshed Bonner Wiki

Cornerstone Activity

Wofford Bonners Remember Meeting Rep. John Lewis

Wofford Bonners Remember Meeting Rep. John Lewis

First year Bonner service trips have been postponed because of the pandemic. But that hasn’t stopped some from remembering a meeting with Rep. John Lewis on their visit to the Nation’s Capitol.

A Giant Legacy

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The first time he saw U.S. Rep. John Lewis in person, James Stukes learned the truth about giants.

Giants come in all sizes.

“It was a surreal moment,” says Stukes, the coordinator for college access and student success who helped lead a group of first-year Bonner Scholars and other Wofford students on trips to Washington, D.C., during Interim in 2018 and 2019. “We were in his office, and it was my first time being in the Capitol. He walked in and the first thing that struck me was seeing in the flesh how small (5-foot-6) he was, but realizing what a huge legacy he had built.”

Wofford Bonner Class of 2019 Celebrates Four Years of Engagement

Wofford College’s Class of 2019 celebrated their four years of community engagement and thanked those who encouraged, empowered, and inspired them along the way. This 3-minute video recap of the Senior Presentations of Service and Learning was created by Gateway and Bonner Scholar, Wilson Oswald.

You can read more about Wofford’s 2019 graduating Bonner Schlars in this program for the year end Presentations of Service and Learning.

Centre Bonner Scholar Organizes Hunger & Homelessness Week

Centre Bonner Scholar Organizes Hunger & Homelessness Week

The Centre College community will hold its annual Poverty and Homelessness Week, Nov. 10-17, to help bring awareness and combat these issues on a local and state level, with a focus on Eastern Kentucky.

The initiative is a culmination of work and collaboration between Centre and various communities that the campus engages with as an institution.

“Each year, the week is structured differently depending on that year’s focus and allows for flexibility when addressing issues of poverty and homelessness, which are incredibly intersectional and complex,” Hannah Gibbs ’19 said. “On a more personal note, I see the week as a chance for our campus community to engage with our own values of servant leadership and global citizenship on an accessible scale for students, faculty and staff.”

Read full story here and see website here.

Volunteering in Trenton, Rider Bonners Learn to Focus on Others in Need

Volunteering in Trenton, Rider Bonners Learn to Focus on Others in Need

"The Freshman Year Experience is the cornerstone of the Bonner program. It really changes the students' perspective on service and is so impactful on their lives," says Joan Liptrot, assistant director of Campus Life for Service Learning. "Since the snow threw a wrench into our plans, we needed to come up with a way to create a similar experience locally."

,

Scholar Connects the South's Racially Charged History with Service and Coursework

,
Scholar Connects the South's Racially Charged History with Service and Coursework

When I applied to the University of Richmond, I asked Gil Villanueva in the Office of Admissions what one piece of advice he would offer an incoming Spider. What hadn’t students taken advantage of that they should have? He replied without hesitation: “Take advantage of the city.”

It didn’t take much convincing. Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, has historic truths in its veins; provocative stories echo through the halls of museums and on battlefields where the North and South fought, brother against brother. As a lover of American history and political science, I was hooked.

,

Bonner Scholar Reflects on the Power and Importance of Listening to Others' Stories

,
Bonner Scholar Reflects on the Power and Importance of Listening to Others' Stories

In a written reflection from the beginning of my senior year, I began describing a person whom I know through service by using an excerpt from the first chapter of Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben’s “Remnants of Auschwitz,” which I read for a French class the year before.

The chapter is entitled “The Witness,” and in this excerpt, Agamben quotes an interview with Primo Levi – a Jewish Italian chemist, writer, and Holocaust survivor. In the excerpt, Levi talks about himself in direct comparison to the classic trope of the sailor who must tell everyone his tale:

Stetson: Summer of Service

Stetson: Summer of Service

   When it comes to community engagement, Savannah-Jane Griffin is very much a part of Stetson University’s past and present.
     Walking on to campus, Savannah-Jane Griffin already possessed a passion to help in her community. As a student at Maritime and Science Technology (MAST) Academy, a public magnet school in Miami, she interned at a local hospital, working in pediatrics.
      A career in medicine didn’t pan out — she couldn’t take the sound of crying babies — but she did maintain her interest in experiential learning and service. Her Stetson education only broadened that appeal. When she graduated in 2007 earning a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Management, she was promptly hired to become part of Stetson’s official community-engagement efforts. By the time she received her M.B.A. a year later, she was entrenched as a campus go-to.

,

Maryville Bonner Starts Food Recovery Network Chapter

,
Maryville Bonner Starts Food Recovery Network Chapter

When Maryville College senior Brandon Denney ’16 began volunteering at local service sites, food became his focus.

As a Bonner Scholar, Denney spends 10 hours a week volunteering at local non-profits. Through his volunteer work, he witnessed food waste firsthand at various jobs and volunteer sites.

While volunteering at a local afterschool program, he also noticed that students in the program had access to healthy and nutritious food that many similar programs were unable to provide.

Student Help Homeless on Trip to NYC

Student Help Homeless on Trip to NYC

Seventeen Emory & Henry College students travelled to New York City in March to assist in projects related to hunger and homelessness.

The students, who are E&H Bonner Scholars, sorted and distributed food in large-scale food pantries, cooked and served meals to homeless guests, and assisted in childcare facilities. Bonner Scholars are awarded scholarship in recognition of their commitments to service.

,

Bonner Scholars Assist with Carnival in McDowell County, West Virginia

,
Bonner Scholars Assist with Carnival in McDowell County, West Virginia

Being born and raised in Tazewell County in Southwest Virginia, I know first-hand the struggles and challenges that living in a coal mining community can have on every aspect of human life.

A nearby town in McDowell County, W. Va., also knows the challenges of this lifestyle all too well. War, a once booming coal mining town and the place to go in the 1940s, is now a ghost town due to the trickle-down effect of losing the major economic sector of the community.

Davidson Students Serve and Learn During Trip to Selma

Davidson Students Serve and Learn During Trip to Selma

"We went on our Alternative Break (AB) trip to help teach schoolchildren, but I think we learned more than they did," said senior Bonner Scholar Rebecca Worrell.
Worrell and 13 other Davidson students went to Selma, Ala., for spring break. During five busy days they worked at three schools, visited sites that are historically significant to the Civil Rights Movement and participated in non-violence training courses.

Tusculum Students Talk about Their Spring Break Service Trip

Tusculum Students Talk about Their Spring Break Service Trip

    In early March, students from Tusculum College’s Bonner Leader program participated in an alternative spring break that included a focus on service, rather than surf time.
    The students took a trip to Orlando, Fla., where they stayed with members of the College Park Baptist          Church and took part in activities that benefited the community. Due to the onset of snow, they arrived a day late to Florida but they were nonetheless excited to start their spring break and volunteering, according to Ronda Gentry, director of the Center for Civic Advancement at the college.

I Don't Want People to Think the Work is Done: Macalester's Ten Years of Solidarity with New Orleans

I Don't Want People to Think the Work is Done: Macalester's Ten Years of Solidarity with New Orleans

In 2006, many 15-passenger vans arrived in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Faculty, staff, and student volunteers from campuses around the country, including Macalester College, responded to the disaster by mucking out houses, cutting back overgrowth, and helping people find a way home.