About the Center for Public Service

Mission:
The Center for Public Service engages students, community members, faculty and staff to facilitate partnerships, education, critical thinking and informed action.  Through these alliances, we aim to foster social justice by promoting personal, institutional and community change. 

 

History of CPS:
The Center for Public Service was founded in December 1991, under the leadership of Karl Mattson.  Prior to that time, community service and service-learning activities stemmed from the Chapel program.  Another important antecedent to the Center for Public Service's founding was the endowment left by Stephen Warner , a Gettysburg College activist who was killed in combat during the Vietnam War.  His GI insurance was intended "to create intellectually controversial programs." The first decade constructed a strong foundation in co-curricular community service and strong community partnerships.  We now are building on that foundation to move into a more curricular/academic focus while continuously strengthening our community partnerships.

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Student Leadership
20 student Program Coordinatorsinspire and organize volunteer action for social justice on campus and in the community.

Reflective Service
Reflective Service offers the opportunity to students to engage meaningfully with community initiatives on their own time, while offering carefully designed support systems that encourage a deeper exploration of community issues and their beliefs about the practice and meaning of service.  These experiences are facilitated by the student program coordinators and supported by ongoing CPS training and development activities.

Service-Learning
Service-learning is the integration of meaningful service experiences into academic courses with the intention to enhance student learning while addressing one or more community-identified social issues. 

Immersion Projects
Immersion Projects are off-campus educational service opportunities at sites in the United States and abroad. The goal of each project is to foster a dialogue between the College community, Adams County and the host community around issues of social justice.  By working alongside people and sharing their stories, students learn about themselves and the world.