Jeremy Ellis recently won the Madeleine M. Kunin Public Service Award at the Vermont Campus Compact (VCC) annual Gala and Awards Ceremony. The award distinguishes one remarkable student from a VCC member institution for his or her outstanding public service and leadership. Ellis also was a finalist for the Vermont Teddy Bear Student Citizen Award.

Vermont Campus Compact, a statewide consortium of colleges and universities whose goal is to strengthen the civic mission of higher education, annually honors students, faculty, staff and community agencies with whom its partners for their contributions to Vermont communities through campus service, service-learning and/or civic engagement.

Ellis is an active and founding mentor in Champlain’s partnership with the DREAM program at the Birchwood Manor community of mobile homes in Milton, VT. Ellis has mentored a now-13-year old boy for the last four years and has helped expand Champlain’s involvement in the DREAM program to 25 members. He has also organized and led an Alternative Spring Break trip to New Orleans to rebuild houses with Habitat for Humanity. Ellis also created Food Fight, a group that once a week prepares soup for the Salvation Army food shelf. He is involved in Champlain’s GetREAL Service Action group and holds a leadership position in the Residential Life office.

Sarah Cohen, the Literacy Librarian at Champlain, has been named a finalist for the Campus Leadership for Civic Engagement Award, which recognizes one staff, faculty or administrator on a VCC member campus for their leadership in advancing public engagement as a critical component of their institution. Cohen has developed co-curricular programs and practices that have cultivated in students thoughtful solutions for some of today’s greatest challenges. She successfully coordinated student leadership for Focus the Nation, and has coordinated library displays for civic engagement and social justice initiatives on such topics as global warming, civil rights and genocide. Cohen also actively seeks out civically-minded work being conducted by the faculty, and promotes community-building through publicity in a wide variety of media outlets – library books, exhibits, posters, email alerts and Web 2.0 channels such as You Tube, Facebook and various on-campus blogs and vlogs.

Student Lindsay Johanson has been named Champlain College’s 2008 winner of the Vermont Campus Compact/TD Banknorth Commitment to Service and Engagement Award. This award is given to one student per VCC member institution for the breadth and depth of her/his community involvement. Johanson is Student Outreach Coordinator for Champlain’s Center for Service and Civic Engagement and a leader of Champlain’s student-driven outreach program, GetREAL. Johanson was instrumental in organizing the two Tent City campaigns that have increased awareness about poverty and homelessness in Chittenden County and Vermont and have raised over $5,400 for Burlington’s Committee on Temporary Shelter.

Ken Reissig was a finalist for the Award for Excellence in Community-Based Teaching, which is given to one faculty member from a VCC member campus who has made public service an integral part of their teaching to the benefit of students and community. Through the Secondary Education program at Champlain College, Reissig partners students with Somalia-Bantu and Sudanese refugee children at Burlington�s Edmunds Middle School in a program of “reciprocal teaching.”

Champlain College was also nominated for the Linking Learning to Life for the Engaged Community Partner Award. The organization has been active in supporting the broader civic mission of the college through a variety of programs.

About Vermont Campus

Compact Vermont Campus Compact is a statewide consortium of 22 college and university presidents and their institutions that are committed to creating a flourishing democracy. VCC presidents believe that through sustained and creative student, faculty and institutional engagement with communities, higher education can help prepare tomorrow's civic leaders while strengthening Vermont communities and improving the lives of Vermonters. VCC facilitates individual, institutional and community growth by connecting people and ideas and action.