SERVICE TRIPS > HISTORY

History of Service Trips

The history of service trips at Wartburg College runs deep. According to past Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students, Lex Smith, the real birth and beginning of the current Service Trip program occurred in 1994 when the Catholic Knights moderator Cathy Heying led a small group of students to Philadelphia to work with the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer during Winter Break. Upon their return the students were so enthused that they wanted to design and lead other trips the following year. The next year there were three trips organized by students.

For several years in the mid 1990’s, the Residence Hall Director of the Complex Val Jones, who had been actively involved as an undergraduate in service at the College of St. Benedict/St Johns, brought her philosophy of service to Wartburg and helped to advise and support service trips along with Campus Pastor, Larry Trachte. Trip guidelines, selection process, and basic philosophy for the Service Trip program emerged from that process. Initially most trips were to urban areas with projects related to social justice, such as working with underprivileged children, homeless and poverty programs and after school programs. As the program developed Winter Break Service Trips included Habitat build trips as part of the Collegiate Habitat Program. These experiences proved to be quite worthwhile for students and provided a meaningful introduction to the Habitat mission of eliminating poverty housing worldwide.

In 1998 the college made a decision to formalize the support for Service Trips and for other service initiatives by establishing the Community Service Office within the division of Student Affairs. Ann Drolet, an adjunct professor in the English Department was the first person to fulfill the position. Then in the fall of 1999 Dale Rush was hired as the quarter time Community Service Coordinator with complimentary residential life responsibilities and service-learning projects. Patrice Bailey was the last person to hold the title of Community Service Coordinator from fall 2001-2005. Over the course of those years the office worked with prospective student trip leaders to provide some level of personal and logistical support, guidance, continuity and expertise to the eventual trip leaders and to the faculty and staff who advised and accompanied these trips. With the establishment of the Community Service Office, some policies and procedures were formalized to address safety and financial considerations and to help provide for a positive service-learning experience. A Service Trip Manual to pull various policies and procedures together was developed. A Service Trip Advisory Board was also established to help select trip locations and leaders, to identify various forms of resources, to provide general policy advice and guidance, and to assist with training. The Leadership Education Committee, a faculty committee with staff and student membership, was given the general oversight and monitoring responsibility for the Service Trip program.

Then in August 2005 the Community Service Program at Wartburg College made yet another transition. With support from the Lilly Endowment, the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) was launched as a part of the Discovering and Claiming our Callings Initiative to provide a central contact point for the community at-large. Under the division of Academic Affairs the CCE consists of five full-time staff members (Director, Internship Coordinator, School Partnerships Coordinator, Community Partnerships Coordinator and Community Service Associate) who work to connect students with leadership, service, and experiential learning opportunities in Iowa’s Cedar Valley and nation wide.

Where are we now?

The Service Trip program is coordinated by the student Service Trip Executive Board with over sight from the Community Service Associate and support from the Community Partnerships Coordinator. As characterized by the Callings Initiative, Service Trips allow students to serve now while teaching them how to discern and claim their vocation and place in the world. They help participants discover how to use their gifts, talents and abilities to identify and meet the needs of the communities around them.

Over the past five years our program has grown considerably, moving from an average of six to eight trips over Winter Break and Tour Week in 2002 to 2 Fall Break, 13 Winter Break and 3 Tour week trips for 2006-2007. The largest Wartburg Service Trip to date took place Tour Week 2006 with more than 90 students chartering down to New Orleans, LA to assist with Habitat for Humanity’s Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts. The group stayed at the government sponsored FEMA camp and worked with Habitat to gut homes that had been ravished by the tropical storm. Several groups return to the area each year for Winter Break and Tour Week to contribute to the ongoing relief efforts.

Service Trips, whether locally, regionally or nationally, will continue to be a strong part of the Wartburg College experience. Service Trips contribute to the institution’s ability to foster a culture of service and leadership. Participants are challenged to critically examine their assumptions, deconstruct their stereotypes and examine their own privileges. With a focus on social justice, our hope is that participants will be opened up to the experience through the transformation of their thinking. We recognize that the community is our partner and that we are learning through our service.

The experience cannot be deemed a success unless the returning students put into action the learning and growth that a week spent in pure service brings. Given that, our goal is that participants will share what they have learned with others and will be inspired to work towards social action in their own communities upon their return.