Building Community
Ohio Wesleyan Sociology Students Complete Semester-Long Service-Learning Projects
Twenty Ohio Wesleyan University students spent fall semester volunteering in the Delaware and Columbus communities as part of a newly designed "Introduction to Social Justice" course.
In December, the students met with leaders from the organizations they served to discuss what they had learned by providing hands-on help to their neighbors in need. For the course, taught by Professor Paul Dean, Ph.D., each OWU student completed a minimum of 25 hours of service, providing a combined 500+ hours of assistance to Common Ground Free Store Ministries, Unity Community Center, and the Bishop Scholars tutoring program.
'Finding Common Ground'
For students, the experience was both eye-opening and inspiring. Nine Bishops volunteered at Common Ground, a nonprofit organization that provides basic material needs for free – clothing, shoes, household goods, prepared meals, and more – with the support of community donations and more than 1,800 volunteers.
Gabe Torres '28 worked in the store's donation center and quickly saw that most of the clothes and shoes dropped off benefited women and children. "There's a lack of men's clothes," he said, especially men's casual clothes, as donations often include more formal attire, including older suits and ties.
Joe Atkins '29 shared similar thoughts, noting that men's winter clothes are especially needed. He also realized more than ever that "poverty results from problems in society," including the low minimum wage, the distribution of safety-net benefits, and similar issues.
Olivia Green '27 and many of her classmates noted that it's important to look beyond how people are dressed or what they are driving when they visit the free store. "You never know what somebody is going through," Green said. "You get to see people as people without walls."
Tori Cannon '29 also shared an important lesson applicable to everyone, everywhere: "You can see how easy it is to volunteer and how impactful."
And Ellie Cady '29 added another universal benefit: "Actually finding common ground. … Too often when we volunteer, we think of us as giving something to people and that we are superior to them. Through the book and discussions, we really made connections and really came to see ourselves on the same level. Through serving, they gave something to me."
Bethany Vasek, Common Ground's director of outreach, told the students their help during the semester was invaluable, enabling the store to stay open and serve meals when it wouldn't have been possible otherwise. "This was much more than an assignment," Vasek said. "You blessed us, and you blessed a lot of people in our community."
Building Up STEAM
Six Bishops volunteered at the Unity Community Center (UCC), which has evolved during its 25-year history from a gathering place in the second ward to a social service agency that provides resources to Delaware city and county residents. The Ohio Wesleyan students worked mainly with the UCC's Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics (STEAM) Club, serving children in grades two through 12 and helping develop a pipeline for young scientists and engineers.
Ava Johnson '26 said it was "very jarring" at first to realize just how much support the children needed, but it became gratifying to connect with them and find the best ways to help each child learn. A Delaware resident, Johnson said she was especially pleased to volunteer in her hometown. "It really made a huge difference," she said.
Pluto Overheim-Brown '28 said the OWU students also benefited personally from the time spent tutoring: "It really helps in expanding your world view, your motivations, and your basic empathy."
Savannah Pratt '28 said the group "focused a lot on building community," but also shared the "community built me." Pratt also plans to continue volunteering at the center, reflecting that "I had a blind eye to what was happening in society, and now I see educational inequality that exists."
Ryan Dougher '27 agreed, adding, "We all really personally grew. … All of us really want to continue helping out. … We all really want to build this community."
Taj Bakare, vice president of the UCC board of directors, said Professor Dean's class and the work of its inaugural students have made a "lasting difference" on the center. "These students did more than just volunteer," said Bakare, who came to the United States in 1978 to study engineering. "They became mentors, future teachers, and role models for our students. … OWU students shaped futures and planted seeds with their work."
Calling Scholars In
Five OWU students worked with the University's Bishop Scholars program, tutoring children as part of ongoing efforts to help the pupils recover learning lost during the pandemic. The Bishops taught mathematics and literacy in one-on-one and group sessions at Delaware City Schools' Schultz Elementary and at the Columbus Bilingual Academy North.
Mo Halasey '26 said the Bishop Scholars program is beneficial for many reasons: "There's kind of a stew happening in lots of public schools," she said, including inadequate funding and low teacher salaries, as well as the lingering impact of the pandemic. She also said she learned a lot from working with the fourth- and fifth-graders she tutored. "Being able to make a child feel like you value their opinion – I think it was a big benefit for me and hopefully for them as well."
Cristian Hernandez '28 said patience is critical when working with children, sharing that he is learning the value of "calling people in versus calling them out." As a wrestler, he said this inclusive mentality is helping his relationships with his teammates, too. "I needed to fix that kind of thinking."
Kerri Robe, coordinator of the Bishop Scholars program, told the students, "You all really stepped out of your comfort zone. … I saw how each of you grew. … It's about kindness, and it's about wanting the best for people, and that's what I saw from each of you."
'Potentially World-Changing'
Professor Dean congratulated the 20 students for completing the substantial work required for the revamped course. "This is a different kind of learning process," he said, and "it really pushes students out of their comfort zone." In addition to the 25 hours of volunteer work, students also were required to write a series of reflection papers to connect their service experience to academic learning, Dean said.
As the students discussed what they learned, Dean also recognized moments of discouragement and acknowledged the dedication needed in social justice and community service work. "There are times when it's going to be really hard," Dean said candidly. "Part of the answer for this is that when you find a community of people interested in the same work. … You have to find moments of joy in it."
And Sally Leber, director of OWU's Community Service Learning Center, encouraged the students to keep moving forward. "It's important that we be the people who step up," Leber said. "You have to create the world that you want to live in … and figure out how we are going to make this better. … This work is not just considered life-changing. It is city-changing, county-changing, and potentially world-changing."
Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan's Social Justice major and Department of Sociology & Anthropology at owu.edu/SOAN. Learn more about Community Service Learning at owu.edu/CommunityServiceLearning.