The Lowell Bennion Community Service Center was dedicated in 1987 by Chase Peterson, President of the University of Utah. He stated, “No university can rest merely with the transmission of old or the generation of new knowledge. It must also help students reach out to larger opportunities and responsibilities. That is what the Bennion Center is all about.”
Students have been doing just that – directing projects designed to address an identified community need, usually in partnership with an existing public or private agency. Projects that served elderly people, youth, and special populations were among the first programs offered, and still provide the bulk of our volunteer opportunities. The Bennion Center adheres to a team approach to recruiting, training, and selecting issues on which to focus. Through student leadership, volunteer participation grew dramatically (from 546 to 1,409 volunteers) in the first year. During the 2008-2009 academic year 8,625 Bennion Center volunteers dedicated 173,504 hours of community service. With one volunteer hour currently being valued at $20.25 (U.S. Department of Labor), Bennion Center students contributed $3,513,456 worth of service to communities during the academic year. The Bennion Center also continues to focus on making connections with agency partners, engaging faculty in the emerging pedagogy of service-learning, promoting civic engagement campus-wide, and strengthening the service-learning scholars program. While new ideas and innovative strategies to implement them are flourishing, the Bennion Center continues to model itself on the life its namesake, Lowell Bennion, who embodied respect for all people, believed in social and economic justice for all, and acted firmly on his beliefs.
