Beyond Band-Aids: Public Service Programs at Gettysburg
Mahatma Ghandi said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world." At Gettysburg College, students are dedicated to doing just that, inside and outside the classroom.
"Here, students' eyes are opened, their comfort zones are expanded, and they understand that the world is a complex place," says Gretchen Natter, director of Gettysburg's Center for Public Service (CPS). "They don't come with answers," she adds, "they come with questions about what they can do to make things better."
There are several ways Gettysburg students engage in public service: one-time or ongoing local initiatives, two-week immersion intensives, or courses that integrate service-learning opportunities into the curriculum. CPS facilitates all of this with an emphasis on partnership and connection-between students and faculty, the community and the college, the servers and the served.
"When you're building a house alongside the very people that will live in it, their story becomes your own," says Ms. Natter. "That's the life-changing part."
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