CCLA's Community Engagement Symposium 2025

Making Service Part of Campus Life Who Are We?

👋 Ashley - Service

Coordinator: Leads student-run Days of Service and outreach initiatives.

📸 Nishtha - Marketing

and Communications Coordinator: Promotes service through visuals, stories, and campaigns.

Why This Matters?

Students want to help but often lack direction.

Accessible, meaningful service empowers students and builds a stronger, more connected community.

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Getting My Group Involved

We’re using two forms: —One for local organizations to request volunteers and another for students to express their interest.

—Making it easy to connect and match opportunities with the right people.

Our Evidence

“Thank you so much for arranging this weekend’s service with the CCHRA! I just wanted to say that that was probably the best Saturday I’ve spent at Dickinson so far.” - Day of Service participant “I can’t begin to thank you enough for all you got done today repainting that room! You’re the best!”Local partner

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CONVERSATIONS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE BY: ANDREA GOMEZ ZAMORA ABSTRACT: RAISING AWARENESS: IT FOSTERS AWARENESS ABOUT THE HUMAN COSTS OF WAR AND THE IMPACT OF MILITARY CONFLICTS ON INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, AND SOCIETIES. BY FOCUSING ON THE PERSONAL STORIES OF VETERANS AND THEIR EXPERIENCES, IT PROVIDES A HUMAN-CENTERED PERSPECTIVE ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF WAR.

PROMOTING DIALOGUE: THE PROJECT FACILITATES CONVERSATIONS ABOUT PEACE, JUSTICE, AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION. IT HELPS BRIDGE GAPS IN UNDERSTANDING AND ENCOURAGES DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HOW SOCIETIES CAN HEAL AND PREVENT FUTURE VIOLENCE. EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY: IT OFFERS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING THAT BRINGS ATTENTION TO TOPICS OF INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING, MILITARY ETHICS, AND GLOBAL JUSTICE. THIS CAN INSPIRE FUTURE GENERATIONS TO CONSIDER CAREERS IN DIPLOMACY, HUMANITARIAN AID, AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION. •

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: THE PROJECT CONNECTS VARIOUS LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS, ENCOURAGING A BROADER, COMMUNITY-WIDE UNDERSTANDING OF ISSUES RELATED TO WAR AND PEACE. BY CREATING PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, IT BECOMES A VALUABLE TOOL FOR FOSTERING UNITY AND COLLECTIVE ACTION AROUND PEACE-BUILDING EFFORTS.

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MISSION STATEMENT: TO ILLUMINATE THE HUMAN DRAMA OF CONFLICT, HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND WAR AS A HUMAN PHENOMENON, AND ILLUSTRATE THE IMPACT THE USE OF FORCE HAS ON SOCIETY… ESPECIALLY ON VETERANS WHO HAVE SERVED OUR NATION.

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SOME EVENTS THAT THEY HELD: IN THE PAST THEY HAVE HOSTED THE ARTIST TODD DRAKE AND HIS ARTWORK. AS WELL AS THE UKRAINE VIGIL, HOSTING A FILM CITIZEN GEORGE, ALONG WITH A PEACEBUILDING WORKSHOP. THEY MAKE ALL THE EVENTS FREE FOR THE PUBLIC WHO ARE PASSIONATE AND HAVE A SHARED VISION OF PEACE AND JUSTICE IN OUR COMMUNITY

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FUN FACTS: THE PROJECT HAS THE GODDESS ATHENA AS THEIR LOGO BECAUSE IT DEMONSTRATES “THE IMPACT OF WAR, WHILE ACTIVELY WORKING TOWARD A BETTER PEACE.” ATHENA IS ALSO THE GODDESS OF WISDOM AND WAR, FEATURED IN HOMER’S LLIAD AS THE WARRIOR-DEFENDER, PROTECTOR OF CIVILIZED LIFE AND OF ARTISAN ACTIVITIES.

Do you know about Civic Engagement at Dickinson?

Grant Donta, Noelle Artinian, Sadie Dussault, Minal Saldivar

Research Findings from Dickinson students

SPO SPO helps food insecure households in the Shippensburg community gain access to nutritious meals. Partnering with local food banks and large businesses, SPO supports more than 1500 families.

Moving Circles Moving Circles is a great way to get involved with people who share a passion and vision for a transformative future. Moving circles offers a space for a loving and just world for people of all ages to share their voice and help to make change.

Safe Harbour Safe Harbour's goal is to end homelessness. We are partnered with Dickinson's Delta Nu Chapter and have many ways for the community to get involved, from donor events to service opportunities.

Pardon Project Pardon Project Cumberland County helps give people who have been convicted of nonviolent crimes a second chance. PPCC works with convicts to apply for a pardon, which essentially removes a crime from their record.

Spotlighting Success Kina Jefferson ’26 CCLA’s Carlisle Borough Ambassador

How We Did It

Spotlighting Success explores the diverse meanings of success within the African American and Indigenous communities in Carlisle, focusing on how race, culture, and personal identity shape these definitions. The event provides a platform for community members to share their experiences and reflections, addressing how societal expectations and environment influence one’s understanding of success. Involving both Dickinson College and Carlisle residents, this event aims to bridge these communities, fostering dialogue and mutual understanding about the varying perceptions of success and the barriers and opportunities that shape them.

To bring this project to life, we conducted extensive research in collabora on with the Cumberland Historical Society and Councilwoman Safronia Perry.

In addi on, I worked closely with my mentor, Sam, engaging in numerous planning discussions to shape the direc on of the project. We decided to organize a panel featuring Yve Davis, Amanda Cheromiah, Safronia Perry, and Miss Thelma. Why a panel? We wanted to create a space for authen c storytelling, and what be er way to do that than by hearing directly from the voices of those with lived experiences. Their unique perspec ves and insights allowed us to deeply explore the themes we sought to highlight, ensuring the stories are shared in the most genuine and impac ul way possible. ti

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Special Thanks Amanda Cheromiah

Miss Thelma

Carlisle Borough

Safronia Perry

CCLA

Sam Ha-DiMuzio

Cumberland County Historical Society

Yve e Davis

Emily Pawley Jennifer Love

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As the Carlisle Borough Ambassador, my goal is to serve as a liaison between Dickinson College and the Carlisle community, fostering collaboration and engagement. One of my main tasks is leading a passion project I developed over the year, which I aimed to strengthen connections and build positive relationships between the college and the Carlisle community.

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Carlisle Borough Ambassador

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Abstract

After the Bell: The Impact of Afteschool Programming in an Underserved Community

By Mae Polis and Lucy Jandoli

What is After the Bell?

The After the Bell program is a YWCA-sponsored program in Grandview Court, a government-subsidized housing development on the north side of Carlisle, that offers snacks, games and activities to the elementary school kids who live there.

We’ve been working on: Social Emotional Learning We noticed that some of the kids had difficulty regulating themselves when things didn’t go their way, so we worked on helping them respond to their emotions in a healthy way through strategies like deep breathing, going outside to take a walk, distracting themselves with a fun activity, or voicing how they’re feeling. We have noticed a tremendous improvement in the kids’ ability to respond to unwanted experiences and talk openly and candidly about their lives.

Enforcing Rules and Boundaries

Something that Mae and I had to work on developing over time was clear rules and a consistent structure for the kids, because we noticed that the kids behaved better with planned activities and a shared set of rules. We also created boundaries around respecting the space, asking for consent, and communicating in a kind and respectful manner.

Creating a safe space After the Bell inhabits a townhouse in the Grandview Court neighborhood that the YWCA leases. The space that we use includes a large open room, a kitchen, and an upstairs area. In the beginning of the internship, the space was arranged with long tables taking up the whole room. In an attempt to make the space seem more welcoming and less like a classroom, we rearranged it to be open, with designated areas for activities like art and reading. This gives the kids more opportunity to split off into groups, do individual activities, and engage in floor activities like dance parties, giant Jenga, or twister. Since rearranging the space, the kids have become more open to trying a variety of activities, they have become more confident in their environment, and gained a level of comfortability in expressing themselves that we hadn’t seen before.

Lessons and Creative Play

Our lessons at After the Bell tend to center around creativity. We do a lot of artwork - the kids really enjoy painting above other forms of art, and we have found ways to use painting activities to spark conversations. Usually this involves most simply engaging them in conversations about their day, or their feelings, asking them questions about their identities and giving them a space to express themselves both artistically and verbally. Over the past few months we have observed that the kids have opened up more, and began asking to paint, or even perform plays. What is most important, is that we do these activities alongside them, which we feel has built trust and a sense of comradery in the program.

Impact on the Community While its hard to measure impact on a community from just less than a year of service, and because the kids are so young it’s hard to know how this will truly affect them in their future, it is safe to say that we have seen a marked difference in the behaviors of these kids since we started working with them. These differences have presented themselves in how the kids interact with us, how they interact with each other, and the ways in which they choose to express themselves. One specific way that this has manifested is in a level of confidence that has grown in the kids - even in a very subtle sense. Overall, the ability to have focused, small-group mentorship may prove to be beneficial to these kid's development.

A Pop of Color: The Importance of Community Artwork Dinela Dedic, Dickinson ‘27 – Community Engagement Fellow at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center

Abstract The Carlisle Arts Center (CALC) aims to strengthen the Carlisle community and make it a better place to live and work through artistic development, both for seasoned artists and novices alike. Through its mission, CALC recognizes the value of providing the community a voice through the arts.

Community Art and its Importance Community artwork is shared experience between community members regardless of income and social status that often serves as a platform for discussion based on shared values and beliefs (Bublitz et al., 2019). In some ways, community artwork can also shape the identities of such communities and beautify spaces in ways that symbolize the achievement that comes with collaboration (Bublitz et al., 2019). However, to continuously cultivate inclusivity in the arts, the experiences of all stakeholders must be considered and held at an equal weight while honestly evaluating the ways that the community can continue to improve.

My Work at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center I have been involved with the Carlisle Arts Learning center as a volunteer and a participant in its after-school programs since middle school. It has been an honor to continue fostering the welcoming environment that CALC has provided for me as an educator on issues pertinent to the Carlisle community.

Outside the classroom, I help organize exhibits and fundraisers that encompass CALC’s mission; inspiring individual growth and fostering community engagement through the arts. Every year we hold events like Empty Bowls that benefit other local non-profits like Project Share, bolstering collaboration and community-building over soups served in the hand-made ceramics of hundreds of volunteers.

References About Us. (n.d.). Carlisle Arts Learning Center. https://www.carlislearts.org/about-calc Bublitz, M. G., Rank-Christman, T., Cian, L., Cortada, X., Madzharov, A., Patrick, V. M., Peracchio, L. A., Scott, M. L., Sundar, A., To, N. (Rita), & Townsend, C. (2019).

Collaborative Art: A Transformational Force within Communities. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 4(4), 313 –331. https://doi.org/10.1086/705023 Images Courtesy of Mo Geiger (2024) and the Carlisle Arts Learning Center.

What makes a Community Strong: How Empathy Builds Community in Carlisle

By Aavani Joshy, Talia Perez and Valerie Larsen

Carlisle Victory Circle Carlisle Victory Circle (CVC) is a non-profit located in Carlisle with the mission of empowering low-income students by connecting them with a supportive community that values education, growth, and diversity.

Through CVC students have opportunities to meet at high-school/ middle school meetings, or go to the clubhouse. These meetings offer students a support system where they can relax, talk, discuss current events, explore the diversity within our own community, or even to come together to make a home-cooked meal.

These opportunities create an environment of empathy and support where our students and grow and thrive.

My role as a one of the Community Engagement Fellows (CEF) interns with Carlisle Victory Circle is to participate and engage meaningfully with the students. At CVC, I actively participate in all clubhouse meetings, where I build meaningful relationships with the kids through engaging conversations, playing games, cooking meals together, watching movies, and simply hanging out, while helping foster a community of support, and trust. Beyond the meetings, I collaborate with our team on a weekly basis to plan themed activities, such as dedicating part of April to sustainability for Earth Day. I develop lesson plans, craft dinner menus, and organize a variety of activities that both celebrate and educate our students. This approach, rooted in empathy, not only ensures productivity but also strengthens our community by making every student feel valued and supported.

Why is Empathy important to community?

Empathy in our placements

What is Empathy?

Empathy is often defined as the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to understand people's emotions and build meaningful connections across relationships (Krznaric, 2014). Empathy complicates an understanding of an individual, and helps one understand where a person may be coming from.

What was a misconception we previously had about the community of Carlisle?

Lack of diversity Indifferent to social issues Carlisle as a whole is affluent/well-off Lack of empathy in the community Community members and Dickinson students are very different

Empathy and Community Empathy and community connection go hand in hand. Empathy plays a vital role in building a stronger, more resilient society. Especially in times of crisis through building a social network of people to support and look out for one another (Klinenberg, 2015). At the same time, connecting to your community can build empathy through getting to know peoples lived experiences and stories (Chung & Kim, 2021).

While public social spaces are important for social linking within communities, the declining rate of investment in public spaces within communities is on the rise (Pazzanese, 2024). Unfortunately, studies suggest that America is more disconnected, socially isolated, and polarized than ever before - sociological work has linked the lack of investment in public spaces to socially disconnected communities (Putnam, 2000).

It has been encouraging to see non-profits in Carlisle serving as social spaces for people from different walks of life to connect and engage with each other. Research proposes that empathy can be harnessed individually through witnessing others display empathy, especially within volunteer settings (Chung & Kim, 2021). Non-profits as social spaces can inspire empathy within the community.

Work Cited Klinenberg, E. (2015). Heatwave: A social autopsy of disaster in Chicago. University of Chicago Press.

Murthy, V. (2022). Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation. U.S. Public Health Service.

Pazzanese, C. (2024). Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone sounded an alarm we still haven’t answered. The Harvard Gazette.

Chung, Y. W., & Kim, J. E. (2021). Can Empathy Help Individuals and Society? Through the Lens of Volunteering and Mental Health. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 9(11).

Krznaric, R. (2014). Empathy: Why it matters and how to get it. Perigee.

What changed that misconception?

Meeting members of several different backgrounds Regular volunteers at Project SHARE Both Project SHARE and CVC work with lowincome communities Exposure to all income demographics in Carlisle

How can Dickinson Students be better community members to the community of Carlisle?

Volunteer/Connect with the community Attend community events Support local businesses Get out of the Dickinson bubble - explore Carlisle Get involved with CCLA

Project SHARE Farm Stand Project SHARE Farmstand is a vital community initiative in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, dedicated to providing fresh, locally grown produce to individuals and families in need. Operated in partnership with local community and volunteers, the Farmstand reflects Project SHARE's mission to fight food insecurity with dignity, compassion, and sustainability. By offering nutritious options in an open-air, market-style setting, the Farmstand fosters community connections while promoting health and food access for all.

As the two Community Engagement Fellow (CEF) interns at the Project SHARE Farmstand, (Aavani and Valarie) we support the day-to-day operations of the farmstand while engaging directly with clients and volunteers. We assist with tasks such as setting up the space to ensure it is accessible, cleaning up the space, in line with Project SHARE’s mission to provide food with dignity. Our responsibilities also include checking in clients, booking their appointments, and handling important datarelated tasks such as entry, tracking, and reflection. In addition to logistical support, we help build a positive and respectful environment by interacting with clients, volunteers, employees and learning from the broader community. This experience allows us to connect classroom learning with community action while growing both personally and professionally in our commitment to service and social equity.

We currently have a According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, majority of Americans feel Facebook Group with over 100 members and at we spend too much time on the disagreements of Republicans and Democrats meetings consistently get 25 and not enough time on the issues and policies members to show up. This club is currently growing affecting our local communities. In response to this, me and community leader John Flood with meetings getting larger and membership getting had decided to create a political group more politically diverse focusing on the local issues affecting our community.

With this group we are creating a space where citizens and leaders of all political affiliations can come together and discuss the issues. We have had candidates such as Brian Allen who are Republicans come speak to us about his run for school board. As well as a core leader of the group, John Flood, being a Democratic Area Leader, and myself Samuel Pimental, being a Democratic Precinct Committee Person. Our mission is to continue to have this political diversity with our presenters and leaders.

Wading Into Change: The Power of Volunteer Monitoring Michelle Cao & Kailey Sipe Dickinson College - Center for Civic Learning and Action (CCLA), Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM)

Volunteer Monitoring = Volunteer engagement + Water quality monitoring WHY VOLUNTEER MONITORING?

- Build community and sustain engagement and involvement - Cultivate and/or deepen sense of place and belonging - Share knowledge and dismantle scientific elitism - Support environmental stewardship, responsibility, and ethics of care - Desire and ability to make a change

Chesapeake Bay Program Monitoring Sites​

Chesapeake Bay Program Monitoring Sites + Volunteer & Nontraditional monitoring sites

DATA INTERPRETATION PROCESS MONITORING DATA ANALYSIS

CONTEXT

RESOURCES

Clean, verify, and plot data; develop maps

Data packets for context & long-term trends

Interpretation meeting + office hours

ELEVATING VOLUNTEER STORIES + EXPERTISE; LOCAL POLICY CHANGE