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News Release

Last modified: Monday, December 1, 2008

IU Advocates for Community Engagement liaisons named

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 1, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Twenty-five Indiana undergraduate students are serving as Advocates for Community Engagement liaisons between local nonprofit agencies in Bloomington and IU service-learning courses for the 2008-09 academic year.

ACE students are an integral component of service-learning opportunities at IU. They work to develop, nurture and sustain academic links between the university and local nonprofit agencies, addressing social issues including domestic violence, the environment, prison systems, education and poverty. The students coordinate, orient and train service-learners and volunteers, as well as help students enrolled in service-learning classes to make connections between coursework and the service they're providing outside of the classroom.

The ACE program, which started with three students, was put in place in 2000 by IU's Office of Service-Learning.

Marjorie Hershey is a professor of political science and also directs the IU Leadership, Ethics and Social Action program, an academic minor focusing on civic participation, community decision-making and citizenship skills. She uses ACE liaisons to help her students coordinate their LESA capstone experiences with local agencies.

"ACEs are invaluable in helping to identify an agency's needs and working out a means by which the capstone student can develop a project to help fulfill those needs," Hershey said.

In addition to advocating for local nonprofits, coordinating service-learning opportunities, and assisting their fellow students to become more civically engaged, Advocates for Community Engagement also participate in professional and leadership development opportunities. Many attend and present at national conferences to raise the visibility of the program on a national level and provide assistance to other colleges and universities interested in creating programs similar to the IU Bloomington's ACE program.

To learn more about the ACE program, visit https://www.indiana.edu/~iubosl/.

2008-2009 Advocates for Community Engagement (ACEs) and their Community Partners are:

• Sarah Pennal -- Fairview Elementary
• Kaitlin King -- Monroe County Public Library
• Darian Stahl -- The Rise of Middleway House
• Nicole Holderman -- Shalom Community Center
• Crystal Alley -- Stonebelt, Inc.
• Searle Slutzkin -- Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project
• Michael Coleman -- Boys and Girls Club, Crestmont
• Qian Liu -- Habitat for Humanity Re-Store
• Haley Turow -- My Sister's Closet
• Alexis Suskin-Sperry -- IU Sustainability Task Force
• Amber Trusty -- City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation
• Jennifer Jameson -- Hoosier Hills Food Bank
• Vince Stange -- Monroe County United Ministries
• Kathryn Goodwin -- Templeton Elementary
• Dan Watts -- Hilltop Garden and Nature Center
• Kelsey Botne -- Banneker Community Center
• Donnie Morgan -- Boys and Girls Club, Downtown
• Anna Remenschneider -- Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Ashley Flora -- Girls, Inc.
• Heydi Correa-Encarnacion -- Monroe County Community School Corporation ESL
• Ashley Troth -- Mother Hubbard's Cupboard
• Natalie Kianoff -- Headstart
• Victoria Learned-Fenty -- City of Bloomington Latino Outreach
• Travis Smith -- Richland-Bean Blossom Family Resource Center
• Bryce Wininger -- Volunteers in Medicine

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