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Day of Service and Learning
Residents of Boulder County have long been known for their strong commitment to community service and civic engagement – and service-minded locals have gained an ally in the new president of Naropa University, Stuart C. Lord. Lord reaffirmed his dedication to serving the community by including an entire “Day of Service and Learning” on Oct. 30 as part of his inauguration.
The day started with breakfast at the Nalanda campus, where Lord announced that Day of Service and Learning would be an annual tradition at Naropa University. He said that true happiness comes from helping others.
“We can be so busy we pass people by. While you’re serving today, see it as a mindful practice to connect,” he said.
Lord and the Naropa community participated in more than twenty service opportunities at on-campus and off-campus locations. Altogether, 250 people took part in the events.
Among the sites President Lord visited on Oct. 30, was Growing Gardens, a nonprofit that serves Boulder’s thriving network of community gardens, where he and other volunteers from Naropa supported greenhouse gardening projects, a peace garden for children and the Cultiva program for teens.
Sophia Burns, a Naropa student in her first semester and a sophomore, also volunteered at the gardens. “I really love gardening and I wanted to connect with other students. It met all my expectations.” Burns said she wants to continue to volunteer at Growing Gardens.
For Lee Worley, a professor of education and performance, volunteering at the garden was a way to connect with the community. “It’s nice to imagine the inauguration of a new president is also an inauguration to new approaches to the Boulder community and not just our Naropa community,” Worley said.
Naropa Board of Trustees Chair Marty Janowitz said, “It’s more fun than talking about doing good things.”
Julie Finley is on the staff of Growing Gardens as a greenhouse grower and beekeeper. “Growing Gardens could never meet the mission of our programs without volunteer help,” she said.
Lord also went to the YWCA to support preschoolers from Children’s Alley as they developed a mural using fabric paint to celebrate the fall season. Children’s Alley is Boulder’s only drop-in, temporary childcare center serving children ages six weeks to 12-years-old and offering extended hours including evenings and Saturdays.
Kate Johannes, YWCA program director, said the program works primarily with families in transition, especially those who have night classes or work at night.
“We’ve had a nice relationship with Naropa. We have many Naropa students who use us as their volunteer work,” she said.
The Service and Learning event included a presentation by Toya Nelson from the Governor’s Commission on Community Service and Barbara Pingrey from Foothills United Way.
Lord came to Naropa from DePauw University (1988–2000) and Dartmouth College (2000–09), and he made strong commitments to increasing levels of student service at both institutions. Student body participation in community service increased from 25 percent to more than 93 percent during his tenure at DePauw, and from 45 percent to more than 70 percent during his time at Dartmouth.
He has also built an impressive record of personal service. Lord has led international service trips to Bangladesh, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Sierra Leone. He has developed programs to aid domestic communities, including areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. In 1996, he was the executive director of the President’s Summit for America’s Future under President Clinton. In this role, Lord provided leadership to a national volunteer initiative targeted at improving the quality of life for America’s youth.
Naropa University thanks Day of Service participants:
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