One of the main points of the Medaille College Aspiration Statement is making sure that when students graduate, not only are they prepared to get a career, but they are also prepared to become valuable members of the Buffalo community (or the community of wherever they choose to live).
Research into the best way to affect students on this level led the college to develop Community 101. This programs was designed to get students thinking more critically about subject matter, but also to get them more involved in the Buffalo community.
"Civic engagement” seems to be the hot button issue around campus nowadays. This is direction the college is headed in; our recent forays into civic engagement demonstrated by the freshmen class through the Community 101 program are what prompted the John R. Oishei Foundation to award Medaille with a $400,000 grant. In the near future, the Medaille teaching style is only going to become more coherent and integrated.
From here on out, civic engagement is going to be a part of the Medaille experience. It’s not going to be just taking classes in a classroom and occasionally getting an internship. Standard classes and internships will still be around, of course, but students will also be instructed through projects that get them out in the community.
The main reason given for why students should be civically engaged is because it allows them to experience course content on a deeper level. In other words, what they learn actually sticks with them; the real-world experiences allow them to obtain knowledge that is more useful.
Students may be skeptical about this change. Some may wonder what the point is. Some might ask why doing things in the community is given so much emphasis, especially if they don’t plan on staying in Western New York.
It also seems weird to think about this kind of thing as a part of “school.” It’s not really something you can be tested on, nor is it something that can be measured to see if you are getting better at it.
The truth is, regardless of where you are going in life, the social skills and attitudes developed through civic engagement are going to help you.
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