Advancing The Common Good

The mission of the Community Service Resource Center is to provide leadership and support for public service education at Bowdoin College by offering opportunities for students, faculty and staff to engage in the community, meeting clear needs while developing strong leaders for the common good both now and in the future.

Vision

In his inaugural address of 1802, President McKeen declared,

"...literary institutions are founded and endowed for the common good, and not for the private advantage of those that resort to them for education...but that their mental powers may be cultivated and improved for the benefit of society."

The Bowdoin College Community Service Resource Center stands at the heart of this vision by facilitating public service education across campus. By meeting the needs of the community through student participation in public service, by employing service as a method through which to enrich the academic program, and by equipping students with the experience and knowledge necessary to become effective community leaders with lifelong commitments to promoting the common good, public service education allows the Bowdoin community to fulfill this historic vision.

Public Service Education

Community Service Programs
provide opportunities for students to meet community needs through service while developing relationships that connect the campus with the surrounding region.

Leadership Development Programs
allow students to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to cultivate a lifelong commitment to public service.

Connecting Service and Academics
ties community needs and academic scholarship in a way that allows students to apply knowledge gained through the curriculum while providing service to the community.