On the heels of TCNJ’s acknowledgment as a Community Engagement Classification institution from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 31 TCNJ Bonner Scholars left before dawn last Friday for a seven-day service trip to New Orleans. While there, they are working with the New Orleans-based Saint Bernard Project to rehabilitate and rebuild homes for local residents. Since 2006, Bonner Community Scholars have given up part of their winter break to continue rebuilding New Orleans communities damaged by the series of hurricanes that devastated the region in 2005.
The College of New Jersey’s Bonner Institute for Civic and Community Engagement coordinates the Bonner Community Scholars program, an intentionally diverse group of approximately 100 TCNJ students. Bonner Scholars commit to undertake 300 hours of service each academic year with more than 18 non-profit community partner organizations in the Trenton region. As a group, they contribute more than 30,000 hours of service in the region each year.
As part of the Bonner Community Scholars program, this service trip for first-year TCNJ Bonner Scholars is only the first of four annual expected trips for students who participate in the program. As sophomores, TCNJ Bonners travel to Richmond, VA, to learn about the on-going legacy of the Civil War and work with community organizations in the Richmond area. As juniors, they work with Atlanta-based organizations while learning about the history behind and struggles of the US Civil Rights movement. Following graduation, seniors travel to Nicaragua serving alongside educational and health organizations to expand the resources and infrastructure available to these communities.
Through these experiences, TCNJ Bonner Scholars achieve the college’s mission to be “a national exemplar in the education of those who seek to sustain and advance the communities in which they live.” Learning about the history of the US struggle for democracy, equality, and justice, while serving alongside those most in need, TCNJ Bonner Scholars develop an understanding of their roles as citizens in democracy in a hands-on fashion.
As Michael Julve, first-year Bonner describes his experience in New Orleans, “Volunteering fosters a unique intimacy with the “larger” community. With that being said, I am exponentially grateful for the opportunity to be serving in NOLA. … I feel as the home grows with our efforts, we are bound to this city. So us, the home, and city are “fleurishing” together.”
St. Bernard Project (SBP) is a national long-term disaster recovery organization whose mission is to ensure that communities at risk of, or impacted by, disasters have the resources to prepare and recover in the most prompt, efficient and predictable way possible. TCNJ Bonners have partnered with SBP for many of their trips to New Orleans, and a TCNJ Bonner alum, Regina Zick ’14, is now serving as an AmeriCorps member with SBP.
This cohort of TCNJ Bonner Scholars will return to campus on Sunday, January 25th, ready to begin the semester the following day.