The Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience
Institutions of higher education are increasingly aware of their
responsibility to prepare students to think critically and to act for the
common good. Dartmouth College’s Tucker Foundation is charged with supporting
and furthering the moral and spiritual work of the College. The mission of the
Tucker foundation is to educate Dartmouth students to think and act as ethical
leaders and responsible citizens in the global community through service,
character development, and spiritual exploration. At present, the Tucker
Foundation provides the following student programs and initiatives:
- Nearly 50 local community service programs
- Coordination and support to more than 27 student religious
organizations
- 65 international fellowship and internship leave-term opportunities
- 5 Alternative Spring Break teams
- A variety of annual social justice initiatives
The Foundation strives to increase the percentage of Dartmouth students
involved in Tucker programs and initiatives from approximately 60% to more than
90%. To achieve this ambitious goal, additional funding is needed. This Tucker
Foundation goal is included as a campaign priority in the Campaign for the
Dartmouth Experience.
The Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience is a major fund raising
initiative, launched by the College on November 14, 2004. The campaign is
intended to allow the College to accomplish the following: to strengthen
Dartmouth across its academic disciplines, make critically needed improvements
in residential and campus life, and preserve Dartmouth’s preeminence in
providing the finest student experience in the world. According to President,
James Wright '64A,
"Dartmouth produces extraordinary graduates...... critical thinkers
poised for leadership in their professions, communities, and personal lives.
Like generations of Dartmouth people before them, they make their mark in the
world through service in critical fields, including medicine, law, science,
government, education, business, journalism, religion, technology, sports,
finance, and the arts. By investing in the Dartmouth Experience, you ensure
that the historic work of the College and its graduates continues - work that
engages, solves, and inspires. Work that can change the world."
The Tucker Foundation established several priorities that are deemed
critical to achieving its goal. These priorities include the following:
- To accommodate increased interest in long-term, intensive individual and
group community service efforts. These include fellowships, Dartmouth Partners
in Community Service (DPCS) internships, local community service projects and
developing initiatives such as Social Justice Lectureships.
- To facilitate joint faculty-student projects and mentor relationships
geared towards community service, social change, diversity, cross-cultural
education, and service programs.
- To support Religious and Spiritual Life through an endowment for the
College Chaplain, endowment of the Rabbinate, and resources for spiritual
expression on campus through interfaith dialogue and religious services.
A brief outline of the Tucker Foundation’s priorities for the Campaign for
the Dartmouth Experience are described below. While the profiles presented
represent only a fraction of many programs and work of the Foundation, the
heart of the Foundation’s efforts lie beyond any one program or office; it lies
in a commitment to connect passion with practice for the entire Dartmouth
community -- across boundaries, cultures, and time.
COMMUNITY SERVICE EXPERIENCES
"Only months ago, these children were on the streets digging and
searching for food. We rarely stop and look at what we have -- we are often
wasteful. But here everyone shares. Nothing is in excess but love... I used to
be convinced of the power of policy, resources, opportunities to affect change
in lives and situations, but now I place more stock in the human
component." -- Jennifer Wilson ’05 (Honduras Spring Break) and
Jonathan Tullis ’05
Community Service in college life is about the stewardship of timeless
ideals and about teaching students to be community builders working for
positive change in their lifetime. Students in our new millennium will be
challenged by a world that is faster paced and more culturally complex. Leading
and serving in this world requires courage, compassion and the conviction that
individuals and social and democratic institutions can make a difference. Our
objective is to support Dartmouth students while they form connections to the
whole human family, starting with service to Dartmouth, the Upper Valley and
reaching nationally and internationally. To that end, the Tucker Foundation
offers in depth programs that deepen the civic engagement of students, stretch
their moral imaginations, and very often transform their lives through
community service.
INTELLECTUAL ENGAGEMENT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND RESPONSIBLE CITIZENSHIP
"I think the Tucker Foundation is the most important organization
on campus for teaching Dartmouth students to become good global citizens. I
continue to this day to take my daughter to visit a local nursing home and have
worked on environmental issues in both the professional and volunteer sides of
my life. We all know that the rewards of volunteering and service are not
something that can be taught in a lecture. They must be experienced
firsthand" – Celia Chen ’78
Dartmouth students and faculty members combine their intellectual scholarly
interests with a passionate commitment to social justice. The demands of
teaching and doing research at a first-rate academic institution such as
Dartmouth, however, can leave faculty with little or no time or resources to
pursue projects directed towards social change. Professional demands upon
faculty are such that faculty members can be forced to choose between
understanding the world and working to change it. The Tucker Foundation’s
mission to nurture the "heart and soul" of Dartmouth students will be
greatly enhanced by making it possible for faculty to join with students in
making the world a better place for all. A committee of students, faculty, and
staff will determine appropriate projects for these funds.
TUCKER FELLOWSHIPS AND DARTMOUTH PARTNERS IN COMMUNITY SERVICES
INTERNSHIPS
"My Fellowships experiences, in union with the Tucker activities,
were the seed of social activism and the desire for change and human dignity.
They are still a piece of my mosaic of understanding, which is continually
influenced and inspired by my current peace and justice work. I guess what I’m
saying is the fellowship ‘definitely’ continues to influence my vista, but I am
more directly involved in the tasks today and the work of tomorrow."
- Dartmouth Alumnus
Endowment gifts will provide funds to Dartmouth students who take part in
service trips or who serve as term-long fellows – programs which affect both
domestic and international communities. These funds would be allotted for
students who would otherwise be unable to participate in Tucker Foundation
programs due to financial need. This fund allows the Foundation to develop
equal program access by enabling all Dartmouth students to participate in
community service and civic engagement.
RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL LIFE
"It was eye-opening to learn that two faiths are so similar and so
strongly believed in. To realize we were raised in different ways according to
different faiths with different beliefs, and yet here we were, two college
students with the same morals, the same way of looking at things, believing
with all our heart that our religions made us who we are." – Carolyn
Johnson ’05
Exploring the dimensions of religious and spiritual life has long been a
central purpose of Dartmouth College and the Tucker Foundation. The
Foundation’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, under the leadership of
the College Chaplain, support these efforts on both a programmatic and personal
level. Through interfaith dialogue, as well as through worship, study, service
and reflection, the community continually asks questions about life’s meaning
and purpose. Many faith traditions are represented at Dartmouth. Supporting
these particular expressions of faith in the context of interfaith inquiry is
an essential – but under-funded – part of the Tucker Foundation’s mission
SERVICE SCHOLARSHIPS
"The Cross Cultural Education and Service trip to Siuna, Nicaragua,
has brought aspects of my life and reality into question. I have learned that a
lot of what I valued before – the things that excited me-were quite
superficial. Educationally, the trip has reinvigorated my determination to do
well so as to use my privilege to improve the situation of others." -
2002 CCESP Trip Member
The Tucker Foundation seeks to obtain endowment gifts to increase
opportunities for Dartmouth students to take part in student service trips.
These funds will be designated for students who serve the greater community on
both a short and long-term basis. This fund will in part be dedicated to fi
nance discrete student service trips both domestically and internationally to
make a difference in a variety of ways – from building a healthcare center in
Nicaragua for an underprivileged community to constructing a shelter in North
Carolina. Endowment funds will also support scholarships for SEAD students.
If you are interested in supporting any of the Tucker Foundation
campaign priorities, Please Contact Dean Stuart Lord at
603-646-3889.
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