Ideally, these courses also provide insight into the mission and goals of the community agencies where they are working. The course might also use local examples to help students think through the effects of various economic policies on different populations in our community. To bridge students academic and volunteer experiences, on alternate weeks, small group discussions and public forums are held for which students receive academic credit. Evening public forums are a time for films, presentations, invited speakers followed by discussions of program themes. Section meetings provide a smaller setting for students to apply or exchange ideas and to relate concepts introduced in their courses with life lessons learned from their service experiences.
Sections are also an opportunity for students to work on group projects.
By purposefully weaving together these activities, our goal is to help students realize the full benefits of an integrated liberal arts and sciences education and to encourage them to form valuable connections with student peers, faculty members, staff, and community agency partners. Every time I work with my peers in promoting hunger awareness, in supporting victims of domestic violence, or in tutoring disadvantaged children, I am left with a sense of irresistible optimism and the sense that our generation cares about the world and that the world will continue to improve in our hands. Our ability to find creative solutions to complex problems and to respond to a rapidly changing world depends on individuals equipped to assume different points of view on social problems and issues. Our communities need people who share a concern for and commitment to the common good. To this end, we hope that students who become a part of the Sharpe Community Partnership Program will develop, from the earliest stages of their William and Mary careers, the skills and confidence to travel beyond the borders of our campus in pursuit of greater knowledge and understanding as a way to enrich their own lives and the lives of others.