VT Engage empowers service learning on four continents
Students turn their ideas into impactful action through community-engaged learning experiences.
For service-oriented students on the path to becoming courageous leaders, VT Engage supports their efforts to make the world more humane and just, wherever that engaged learning happens.
Virginia Tech’s center for service learning, leadership education, and civic engagement, VT Engage celebrated the projects of its most recent scholars and grantees as it welcomes new applicants to its two student funds for engaged learning.
“These grants and scholarships provide our students with crucial funding for community-engaged learning experiences and projects,” said Jessica Davis, associate director of VT Engage. “They offer unique opportunities for empowering students to turn their ideas into impactful actions through addressing community needs, fostering civic leadership, and promoting meaningful collaboration between students and local organizations.”
The John E. Dooley Student Engagement Grant funds highly motivated students or student teams planning to implement or expand community-based civic engagement projects. Applications are open through April 15.
The Austin Michelle Cloyd Social Justice Scholarship supports serving communities through social justice efforts and building leadership capabilities. Awarded scholars use funds to support an experiential learning experience such as study abroad, internships, fellowships, undergraduate research, co-ops, and alternative break trips. Applications are open through June.
Recently funded student projects have made impacts across the globe:
Building homes and enhancing primary education in Rwanda
Growing capacity of civil society organization in Switzerland
Developing sustainable community-scale agriculture in South Africa
Shaping more accessible environments for the visually impaired in Virginia
Cultivating agricultural leadership among women in Nigeria
Enhancing essential water infrastructure in Nepal
Implementing public health solutions in Uganda
Reflections from community-engaged scholars
Grace LaFleur, Cloyd scholar: “Teaching was my favorite part of my experience. I learned so much about resourcefulness from the Rwandan people. I realized that I need to make sure that I work with children, hopefully in an educational setting, for my career. My time there helped me to realize my passion, and I am so excited to see where it takes me.”
Arogeannae Brown, Cloyd scholar: “As an agriculture major, I felt it was important to focus on international development. I enjoyed learning about the different cultural aspects of Uganda and working with community members directly. I was able to hear the community needs and, based on the resources that we had as students, aid the community with medical care, health screenings, and sanitization efforts.”
Emma Cleveland, Cloyd Scholar: “Embracing Ut Prosim, my time in Cape Town was a testament to the power of service beyond borders. I led a creative pre-trip initiative, designing educational materials highlighting underutilized plants for the Oude Molen Eco Village Food Garden. Our posters and brochures aimed to foster community engagement with local biodiversity, promote sustainable use, and deepen ecological appreciation.”
Bolanle Adebayo, Dooley grantee, facilitated a two-day workshop targeting women farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria, to build grassroots community leadership toward sustainable agricultural development. The project introduced systems thinking to help the farmers improve collective actions and decision-making in agricultural communities.
In collaboration with the Burkeville Lodge for the Blind, Dooley grantee Sarah Bates, as part of a team of undergraduate architecture students, worked to revitalize the lodge's Memory Garden as an inviting space for reflection and meditation. Through a collaborative process with the lodge’s board of directors, students designed elements to technologically and physically enhance navigation, creating a multi-sensory environment to be enjoyed by all, regardless of ability.
Zuleka Woods, Cloyd scholar, on her work in Uganda: “Service-learning using action research gave us the advantage of finding solutions in collaboration with the community, including hosting a health fair, sharing information about birth and delivery, and planning and distributing maternal kits to expecting mothers. We discussed social issues like gender roles, marriages, and family relationships. Other projects included providing girls with materials to make menstrual pads, building a public toilet, giving a healthy food educational demonstration for families, and facilitating free tuberculosis screening.”
Dooley grantee Sophia Irizarry: "After an earthquake in 2015, the Dhumba, Nepal, village irrigation canal was destroyed, and Virginia Tech students wanted to help repair it. Our work in Nepal is tough, but the yearly progression has created a lasting impact on the community. This May will be my third trip to Dhumba, and while I'm excited to pour my final bowl of cement into the canal as the project is completed, I'm looking forward to seeing the next project Service Without Borders starts with Dhumba Village for the next decade."