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The annual Tucker Foundation Senior Leaders Celebration was held on June 10,
honoring members of the graduating who were involved with the Tucker Foundation
during their time at Dartmouth. Rebecca Werhly '06, recipient of the Olga Gruss
Lewin Post-Graduate Fellowship delivered the following address to the members
of the class of 2006.
Address to the Tucker Foundation Senior Celebration
During our four years at Dartmouth, we each interacted with the Tucker
Foundation differently as we involved ourselves in a variety of projects and
organizations. Recognizing the diversity of our activities, I struggled
to describe a shared Tucker experience and to generalize the lasting effect
that Tucker might have on each us. But in spite of the fact that we have
involved ourselves in various parts of the Tucker Foundation, our experiences
have probably led us to ask some of the same questions. I want
to tell my story as a way of raising the questions that our Tucker experiences
have led many of us to ask.
What I first came to Dartmouth, I wondered, “What needs to be done in the
Upper valley?” The Tucker Foundation got a hold of me early, providing a
quick answer. I remember my DarCorps service day right after my freshman
DOC trip when I spent the afternoon at The Haven, a shelter for homeless
families. Even though I ended up with poison ivy for the next week or
two, I was excited to immediately see an organization in the community doing
such amazing work. While I tend to think that sustained partnerships
often are more meaningful for everyone involved, even these brief events can
plant seeds for later service: a few years later, I organized a work day for
the Navigators Christian Fellowship at the Haven and loved seeing other
students inspired to become more involved as they listened to Haven staff
describe their work. In short, being exposed to the work of community
organizations introduces us to the real needs in the community. And
sharing knowledge of the need that exists can motivate other to become involved
in more sustained relationships. So before I even started classes, Tucker
helped provide the answer that much need exists in the Upper valley and that I
could be a part of addressing that need.
Another early Dartmouth interaction with Tucker caused me to ask, “How does
academic work relate to social justice?” My freshman seminar in the Sociology
department, Poverty in America, centered on service learning and continued to
introduce me to the needs and existing services in the surrounding
community. We read about and debated the causes of poverty while also
observing and volunteering at local service organizations, a partnership
facilitated by Tucker. I spent my time at the LISTEN center, an
organization that assists community members obtain needed housing, clothing,
and food, and at Hannah House, a home for pregnant and parenting youth. During
my hours at these organizations, I examined the relationship between staff and
clients. I asked how staff managed to provide a structured and effective
program while respecting clients. I saw that I could apply the broad
ideas I learned in class about the causes of poverty and the flaws of some
assistance programs to actual work occurring in the community. And I saw
how these organizations found solutions to challenges we discussed in
class.
This integration of academics and service led me to ask the question, “How
should I evaluate different service projects and organizations?” Are the
giver and receiver roles in service relationships inherently hierarchical and
disrespectful? Are programs run as efficiently as they could be?
Are they based on the community’s actual needs rather than on our
preferences? It’s difficult to criticize projects because service, by
definition, is good and comes from good intentions, but I learned that kind
intentions do not always mean helpful results and do not excuse flawed
programs. The seminar taught me to evaluate my own involvement critically
and not assume that I was helping merely because I had sincere
motivations. However, I also learned not to become paralyzed by these
questions—uncertainties about how to best serve certainly do not provide an
excuse for not acting.
My sophomore year, I became involved with Students Fighting Hunger and
attempted to start a benefits outreach program. We initiated this program
because many people qualify for programs such as Medicaid and Food Stamps but
face significant barriers to accessing these programs. For example, they
may lack transportation, have literacy challenges, or be unable to take time
off work to go enroll in programs. I began the project
enthusiastically. But this enthusiasm quickly moved to frustration and
disappointment as my calls to the local office that administered the programs
were forwarded to other offices and my messages remained unreturned. We
visited a local office, but the people we spoke with told us to instead call
the number we had already called unsuccessfully. The challenges we faced
further convinced me of the need for the project, but I felt ineffective in
implementing our idea. Throughout the process, I internalized much of my
frustration with the project—why am I so bad at initiating projects? Why can’t
I recruit volunteers? Why do I always leave inarticulate messages?
You get the picture. This experience left me asking about the role of
failure in service. I’m not just telling this story to be negative but to
be candid about the fact that much of what we try fails to meet our
expectations. And it feels much worse if you have think you’re the only
one whose projects don’t happen as you intended. I think often if we fail
we like to either pretend that our failure never happened or distance ourselves
and act like we don’t care. For a long time, I chose the first path and
carefully avoided mentioning how I had unsuccessfully invested myself in
starting the program. I think we inevitably run into dead ends when we
start new projects, and labeling them failure does facilitate learning from the
experiences. In the end, we need to be both persistent and unembarrassed
by the challenges we face.
The question the integration of academics and service returned as I began my
Senior Thesis. I remember meeting with my advisor during the spring of my
junior year saying, “I just want to do something useful, something that could
actually help people.” This goal tends be a bit difficult in sociology
because as I’ve been told several times, sociologists are to analyze problems
but refrain from suggesting solutions. I read all these books about
poverty and inequality that provided detailed evidence for various causes and
then include an appendix with only a few brief suggestions for policy
changes. I find this approach strange because I see analysis of causes as
useful only to the degree to which it enables solutions. And who better
to suggest solutions than those with an in-depth understanding of causes?
I have also been uncomfortable with my luxury of academically analyzing
poverty from my privileged position here while others suffer effects that my
papers explore. So I determined to be renegade sociologist whose goal was
to suggest solutions to social problems. As I wrote my thesis about lead
poisoning in Manchester, New Hampshire, I tried to focus my work on information
that could help solve the problem. I looked at how various stakeholders
construct the problem of lead poisoning differently: what do they see as the
major causes, what solutions do they suggest, and what values do they use to
justify these solutions? My goal was to enable stakeholders to understand
each others’ perspectives so they can communicate more effectively than they
are now. My freshman service learning experience facilitated by Tucker
laid the groundwork for this project, giving me an example of academic pursuits
that involve and serve the community.
As I have learned to integrate my service and academics, I have also been
guided by my faith. I have certainly asked how faith and service should
relate and how they actually do in my life. A few weeks ago, I spoke on
the phone with a woman from a PR firm working with Dartmouth about my Lewin
Fellowship next year in the colonias of South Texas doing diabetes
prevention. The woman asked me where I get my motivation for
service. I mentioned my faith.
“Your what?” she responded.
“My faith,” I said.
“What, your state? There’s something special about Texas?”
“No, my faith. It’s a big part of why I think service is
important.”
Our miscommunication provides an exaggerated example of the difficulty I
sometimes have talking about my faith. I’ve been told that faith should
be personal but not private, but I get stuck when I try to talk about what I
believe. I do not want to dilute what I say or use vague or trite
phrases, but I don’t want to offend. I want to speak with humility and
share what I see as truth.
My freshman year as I found opportunities for involvement in service
projects, I also became more and more involved with a part of the spiritual
side of Tucker through the Navigators Christian Fellowship. I found a
community of thoughtful Christians who sought to integrate their spiritual
beliefs with every other aspect of their lives. It’s a community centered
on the person of Jesus, a man who put others’ needs above his own, personifying
love.
I think it was during my sophomore year that I started reading the Bible
with my pink “poverty highlighter.” Whenever I came across a reference to
justice, oppression, or service, I would highlight it. It’s hard to
ignore the Biblical call to seek justice for the oppressed when a significant
portion of your Bible is pink. Jesus’ teachings are not particularly warm
and fuzzy in this respect as he reminds up that we must give up much to follow
him. Jesus, the man who I believe is the human incarnation of the
Almighty God, chose to spend his time with those most scorned by society.
He taught that those who the world regards the least mean so much to God.
Seeing Jesus’ example reminds me of the inherent worth and dignity of others as
precious creations of God. My attempts to actively love those around me
are a response to the tremendous undeserved love and grace that I have
received. Moreover, my faith encourages me to serve not only at the
individual level but also to seek justice for society. God requires me
“To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah
6:8).
I just read a book by Donald Miller called Blue Like Jazz, and an
idea I took away that continues to challenge me is that what we truly believe
is not what we say we should do but is what we actually
do. True belief can cost us and the choices we make often indicate what
we actually believe. In his letter toward the end of the New Testament,
James asks (2:14-17):
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no
deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes
and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep
warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is
dead.”
I think it is indeed a great challenge to truly live our beliefs, and the
Tucker Foundation provides a great avenue to act based on love and a desire for
justice and healing. I have found Tucker to be a place where I can grow
spiritually, feel frustrated, be comforted, and explore the integration of
various areas of my life, all the while asking important questions.
Thanks for you time, and I wish you all the best as you continue to
integrate your beliefs and actions as you serve.
Rebecca Anne Werhly, Class of 2006
During her time at Dartmouth, Rebecca has made tremendous contributions to
the Dartmouth College and Upper Valley communities as a student activist and
leader. Motivated by a deep sense of faith, she has committed herself to
serving the local and national community through both her community service and
her academic work. Through the Tucker Foundation she has been involved with the
Navigators Christian Fellowship, Students Fighting Hunger, School Volunteers
and COMMUNiversITY. As a sociology major with a pre-medical concentration,
Rebecca brought her passion for service into her academic work as well. This
year she wrote a senior honors thesis for which she researched lead poisoning,
a problem that disproportionately affects children from low-income families in
Manchester, New Hampshire. Upon graduation, Rebecca will continue her
commitment to service with the support of the Olga Gruss Lewin Post-Graduate
Fellowship. She will serve with Integrated Health Outreach System, educating
families in southern Texas about the causes of diabetes and linking families to
existing social services. After completing her fellowship, Rebecca plans to
enroll in a joint medical and public health program and hopes to eventually
work in a community health clinic in Texas practicing pediatrics and designing
and implementing community outreach programs.
Dean Stuart C. Lord applauds after Rebecca's address
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