Community Service Opportunities
African Learning Experience
The richness of the Holy Cross Ghana program stems from the chance for students to learn through direct experience within a Christian community. Not only will students be intellectually challenged, they will also be challenged in more direct ways. Before leaving for Ghana, students attend classes and presentations and have regular reading assignments, quizzes and tests. Once travel begins, we focus on faith-related issues derived from the location where we are at the time and the lives and work of the Brothers of Holy Cross. Students read articles on a given topic, talk to people somehow involved, experience some aspect of the issue directly, participate in a focused discussion or lecture and develop their own thoughts by writing a journal reflection. At the completion of the course, these journal reflections will be summarized in a paper of 12-18 pages.
For example, the topic "Slavery and Racism" will require the students to read about the African-American slave trade, then explore a Ghanaian "slave castle" through which many black Americans trace their history and talk to some Ghanaian people about their perspective on the slave trade. After a directed group discussion that evening, students will write their 1-2 page journal reflections.
Visit the Ghana home page to learn more.
Urban Plunge
An Urban Plunge is an opportunity for a student to grow in his or her awareness of the suffering of others during an intensive three-day submersion into an inner city neighborhood during Christmas Break. Students visit places like schools, soup kitchens, shelters, police stations and employment agencies in order to gain a greater awareness of the problems of many people living in the city today. The Urban Plunge is offered through the University of Notre Dame. A student may earn one credit hour from Notre Dame for participating. For more information, visit the Notre Dame Urban Plunge Website.
Local Organizations
There are many service agencies in South Bend. Visit the Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns page for more information and a list of local agencies.
Homework Tutoring Program
The Homework Tutoring Program, a Campus Compact National Award winning partnership between Holy Cross College and St. Joseph County Public Library, was founded in 1994 by Holy Cross faculty member Dr. John Raymer, Associate Professor of English, and his late wife, Anne, winner of the Library's Lifetime Achievement Award for her work as Head of Special Services. This program offers Holy Cross College students the opportunity to tutor an area elementary and junior high school student on an ongoing one-to-one basis. All tutoring is done in the Special Services area of the main library. Over the years, hundreds of students experiencing varying degrees of academic problems have been helped by this program. For more information, please contact either Dr. Raymer at 239-8385 or one of the Special Services staff members at 282-4655.