Student Programming
The Parke Student Leadership Center is a programming and leadership development resource center for students. The mission of the center is to encourage students to develop life skills through involvement in cocurricular activities. The center provides resources and staff to assist students in the implementation of campuswide or small-group programming and in the exploration of leadership and management issues as they relate to campus groups, organizations and/or personal growth. Some of the resources include computers, photocopier, laminating machine, art supplies, die-cut machine and a button-maker. In addition to these resources, an inviting workspace encourages individuals and small groups to use the resources to work creatively.
Student Service and Civic Engagement Organizations: There are a variety of student-run organizations that work with many agencies and organizations to engage students in meaningful service experiences and civic engagement opportunities. Through training and reflection, students will be able to link the experience to important social, political, economic and ethical issues and to students’ personal and career goals. Organizations include Campus Events Commission, Better Together Interfaith Alliance, Circle K, Habitat for Humanity, and Campus Ministry Commission. These organizations may organize one-time and short-term service projects for groups of students, such as blood drives, food drives and special events at long term care facilities or food pantries. Opportunities for civic engagement might include voting awareness, attending a political speaker event and partnering with others to engage in bettering our local and global communities. Students can be involved in these experiences because they choose to, or an experience may be integrated into a course as an important way to engage students in learning through real world experience.
Diverse Student Life: There are many offices, student run organizations, and programming that seek to simultaneously address the current needs of students, work alongside students in removing barriers to their success, and create enriching learning environments. Key areas to enrich diverse student life include: Physical Well-being, Rest/Peace, Belonging, Education/Growth, and Policy/Advocacy. Some of these efforts pertain to physical spaces on campus, such as the Cobber Food Pantry, Prayer Rooms, diverse student lounge, and gender-neutral bathrooms. Other efforts engage in programming that emphasize belonging, such as events hosted by our many affinity-based student organizations - Black Student Union, Sexuality and Gender Alliance, and International Student Organization. These organizations host events like the Multicultural Celebration, Fiesta Latina, Soul Café, and Coming Out Day.
Additional student programming efforts can be found under the headings Student Organizations, Leadership and Service, and Student Government in the Involvement section of this catalog.