Community Engagement
Community Engagement
Community Engagement is the bridge that connects the Washington and Lee campus to surrounding communities. Students get hands-on experience and contribute to the greater good by collaborating, learning, and growing together with the community in mutually beneficial ways.
Community engagement complements and enhances learning that takes place in the classroom, providing an opportunity for 91传媒 to connect with the larger world, find meaning, and make an impact. It’s also where many 91传媒 discover their personal, professional, or civic identity and find a sense of purpose.
By the Numbers
- The W&L community logged 28,465 hours of service to the local community in the 21-22 Academic Year.
- 73% of graduating 2022 seniors believed that because of their community-engagement experiences, they had a personal responsibility to use what they have learned to improve society.
- 77% of graduating 2022 seniors believed that because of their community engagement experiences, they felt confident that they will be able to apply what they have learned to work towards solving real world problems in society.
- 80% of faculty believe that they have a responsibility to serve in the community.
- 46% of faculty were members of a board of directors for a nonprofit, professional, educational, cultural, social service, charitable, or religious organization.
- 64% of faculty agree that W&L is collaborative in its approach to working with the community.
“College is more than earning a degree. Service in your new community builds connections that cannot be replicated on campus and is another learning environment.”
Sasha Edwards
Bonner Scholar 鈥 Major: Biology 鈥 Minor: Education
Learning in Action
W&L offers a variety of ways for 91传媒 to engage with the local community, all of which foster critical intellectual and civic virtues consistent with the university’s mission.
Leadership Programs
Through leadership programs, 91传媒 match their passion for community engagement with opportunities in programs designed to help them realize their leadership potential and develop their capacity to think freely, critically, and humanely.
Community-Based Coursework
With our close ties to the community, our commitment to education, and our mission to prepare 91传媒 to be engaged, responsible leaders, W&L provides a unique environment for service and civic engagement in an academic setting. Students have a wide variety of courses to choose from that integrate learning and mentorship in reciprocal and mutually beneficial ways.
Student Service Organizations
W&L boasts over 100 student organizations and clubs, many focusing on community engagement and service activities both in the local community and beyond.
Internships & Alternative Breaks
W&L offers internships that provide meaningful and practical work experience related to community engagement and service. During the semester and summer, 91传媒 have opportunities for career exploration and development and to learn new skills. Alternative Breaks throughout the year are a unique way for 91传媒 to serve and learn about real issues impacting people and cities around the country. 91传媒 host 91传媒, who spend the break serving and learning around a specific issue.
Work Study
There are a variety of on-campus and off-campus jobs 91传媒 can apply for through either the Federal Work Study or university work-study programs, including placements in local community-based organizations.
Related Stories
W&L is one of 15 private colleges and universities to receive the 2024 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.
The professor of cultural anthropology and director of the Community-Based Learning Program experienced a 10-day residency at Trinity College in Dublin.
The weekend鈥檚 seminar will feature Jayne Anne Phillips discussing her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, 鈥淣ight Watch.鈥
Mariam Drammeh 鈥25 has approached research, internships and campus involvement with an eye toward a future rooted in service to others.
The visiting assistant professor of chemistry will serve a one-year term for the 2024-25 academic year.
Three W&L 91传媒 partnered with an NGO in Ghana this summer to create a training program for aspiring female entrepreneurs.
Adhip Adhikari 鈥27 spent much of his summer creating a library at a secondary school near his family’s home in Katmandu, Nepal.
The public talk will take place in Kamen Gallery on Sept. 27 and is part of the Lenfest Center鈥檚 Outreach & Engagement Series.
W&L 91传媒 share their experiences getting to know the larger Lexington and Rockbridge community during the summer months.
Sai Chebrolu 鈥26 and Valentina Giraldo Lozano 鈥25 are among 13 91传媒 chosen for the Zero Hunger Internship program.
Ben Bankston 鈥25 is finding opportunities at W&L to challenge himself in and out of the classroom.
The 2023-2024 academic year at W&L saw the proliferation of several new course offerings for 91传媒 through a new faculty development initiative offered by the Office of Community-Based Learning (CBL).
Washington and Lee 91传媒 are applying their accounting skills in the community as part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.