Meet our 2025 National Bonner Summer Interns! Michael Deem Jr. from Rider University brings his expertise in film and storytelling, while Spelman College's Olivia Gray focuses on advancing educational equity. Oberlin's Joseph (JP) Liddy contributes his experience in event coordination and community building, and Centre College's Kayla Rogers brings her passion for policy advocacy and civic engagement. Together, these talented student leaders will support the Bonner Foundation's mission while gaining valuable professional experience in the nonprofit sector.
Maranda C. Ward, Ed.D., MPH, Spelman College Bonner Scholar ‘02 Alum has been awarded Campus Compact’s Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement. Dr. Ward is the assistant professor and director of the Equity Department of Clinical Research and Leadership at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
TCNJ’s Bonner Community Scholars Program launched 20 years ago, it started with just 12 Bonner Scholars — students who commit to 300 hours of community service annually in exchange for needs-based scholarships. Now, with close to 100 participants each year, the TCNJ program is one of the largest and most successful in a nationwide network of Bonner college programs.
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.
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.
The College of Charleston' Bonner's Bonner Program was initiated 10 years ago by two students, Jyn Repede, '09 and Jamila Harper '08
They learned of the program at the March 2008 IMPACT Conference where they kept meeting students who introduced themselves as "Bonners." Intrigued, they tracked down staff from the Bonner Foundation who encouraged them to take the lead in bringing the program to their campus.
Abigail Bekele, Bonner Scholar Class of 2019, won the Mark of Excellence Award for 2018 in General News Photography for small colleges (< 10,000 enrollment) from the Society of Professional Journalists Region 2 (N.C., Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C.). Her winning photograph entry was titled “Can I have a hug?” and appeared in The Guilfordian accompanying an article on a visit to Guilford College’s campus by Jill and Joe Biden.
BEXLEY, Ohio, April 17, 2018 — Capital University today revealed its inaugural class and outlined the community organizations the students’ efforts will impact in the first year. This comes one year after announcing its formal partnership with The Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation to provide scholarships for lower-income, underrepresented and first-generation students with a passion for community engagement and social justice issues.
In recognition of Campus Compact‘s 30th anniversary in 2015-16, the National Campus Compact's Board of Directors asked member presidents and chancellors to join in signing an Action Statement, a declaration of shared commitment to the public purposes of higher education and a promise to develop a Campus Civic Action Plan to realize those purposes more fully.
So far, nine schools in the Bonner Network have completed their Civic Action Plans:
"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."
Elvis Francois, Bonner grad from Oberlin College, and William Robinson are resident doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and they recently gained attention after a video of them singing in the hospital lobby went viral. Ellen chatted with them about their kind gesture, and the duo performed a cover of Mike Yung's "Alright."
Rutgers Bonner Leaders and Collaborative Center employees travel to Puerto Rico on an Alternative Spring Break to assist in disaster relief. Enjoy this photo album from their trip.
On Saturday, March 3, Wofford College's Bonner Scholarship Program hosted Bonner Scholars from Mars Hill University, Averett University, and Warren Wilson College for a Sophomore Exchange weekend in which they examined Diversity, Inclusion, and Civic Engagement in Bonner Colleges in the American South.
The Bonner Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a new partnership with the the Congressional Hunger Center. Through the Zero Hunger Initiative, Bonners will be able to deepen their learning around issues of food security, hunger and poverty and be exposed to ways they can become more effective advocates for promoting policies that address food security and reduce hunger in their campus communities.
Becca Spence Dobias, Guilford Bonner Scholar '08, just wrote a novel titled "Rock of Ages." It tells the story of "an LA transplant struggles over whether to return to rural Appalachia after her father’s death and an abusive relationship. A feisty rule breaker and her abuelita, and maybe a little bit of magic, help her understand the meaning of home."
Each year the Dan River Nonprofit Network holds a Volunteer of the Year Contest to celebrate those throughout the community that go above and beyond with their engagement in the Dan River Region. For the second year in a row, an Averett University student took home the win.
Taylor Doss, Averett sophomore business major, won the 2017 Volunteer of the Year award, voted on by the public. Doss is an Averett Bonner Leader and a cheerleader for the University.
This profile on Sharolyn Wynter '07 by Frank McCoy appeared in Spelman College's Fall 2017 alumni magazine (page 15).
In 2003, as an incoming Spelman first- year student, Sharolyn Wynter was selected to be one of the school’s 80 Bonner Scholars. Wynter’s community service placement site was Raising Expectations Inc.
This profile of Maria De La Cruz, a Bonner alum from Middlesex County College '04 and The College of New Jersey '06, appeared in the Fall 2017 MCC Alumni magazine (page 21).
To most New Jerseyans, the wreckage of Hurricane Harvey is mostly sorrowful images on TV and sad stories in the newspaper.
For Maria De La Cruz ’04, it is her reality.
At the first-ever ALL IN Challenge Awards ceremony to recognize colleges and universities committed to increasing college student voting rates, Edgewood College received two Best in Class Awards.
The College is recognized for having the highest student voting rate among four-year, private institutions category, as well as within the four-year, small, private institution category. Edgewood College also earned a Silver Seal for achieving a student voting rate between 60 and 69 percent.
More than 30 awards were announced at the event that took place at the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
The University of Nevada, Reno Honors Program has implemented a Bonner Leader Program, developed by the Bonner Foundation, to provide students with financial support and opportunities to engage with their community. The program aims to allow first-generation, underrepresented, and/or low-income students the option of going to college and giving back to their community through service initiatives.
Part of the prestigious Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty (SHECP) internship program, Shelby Boyd ’18, a Bonner Scholar, worked with a statewide organization called Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC) this summer.
The grassroots organization, with 10,000 members across Kentucky, aims to empower individuals to affect change, focusing on tax justice, environmental issues, healthcare and affordable housing, among other challenges.
As a community organizing intern, Boyd spent her time coordinating member meetings, training in tax justice and communication and planning events, specifically the fourth annual Smoketown Getdown for Democracy to celebrate Louisville’s Smoketown neighborhood.
