Dr. Amy Koritz tells Kiwanis about Project Pericles at Drew University

Dr. Amy Koritz, Director of the Center for Civic Engagement, Drew University spoke at the June 22 meeting about Project Pericles. Drew University is a member of Project Pericles, a consortium of 28 colleges and universities committed to incorporating civic engagement into their core educational mission. Project Pericles is a not-for-profit organization that encourages and facilitates commitments by colleges and universities to include education for social responsibility and participatory citizenship as an essential part of their educational programs, in the classroom, on the campus, and in the community.

Dr. Koritz described the ways that Drew is participating in Project Pericles. She distributed a “Drew Today” handout describing the program. The mission of Civic Engagement at Drew is to connect education and action for the common good. Project Pericles supports this by providing training, assistance and networking between member colleges. With this help, Drew is starting a course on Economics of Non-Profits.

Drew now has a Civic Scholars Program. Scholarships are awarded based on incoming student’s High School record of excellence in community service. Civic Scholars enroll in a special seminar their first year and then participate in weekly workshops to develop their skills. All are expected to do 100 hours of community service each year and to organize a Drew activity involving the community during their first year. Of 133 applying for the scholarship, 26 were accepted into the program.

Visit the Drew and Project Pericles websites to learn more.