Dr. Charlene Gray, Director of PA Campus Compact

Posted by on July 8, 2005

Director of Outreach Center at Lafayette College Named
Executive Director of Pennsylvania Campus Compact

Dr. Charlene Gray, director of the Landis Community Outreach Center at Lafayette College, recently accepted the nomination to serve as executive director of Pennsylvania Campus Compact ? an organization committed to civic engagement in higher education. Gray assumes this position on August 1, 2005.

As executive director Gray will be called upon to provide training and technical assistance to help institute and improve civic engagement and service-learning programs at the 64 Pennsylvania Campus Compact member schools. ?College students are often overlooked and under-utilized as positive community-changing resources,? explains Gray. ?Their energy and passion coupled with their ability to think outside of the box make them marvelous volunteers. Our job is to help the students, as well as the administrators and faculty at these institutions, fully grasp the positive impact they can have on their communities.?

Gray, who has been a dedicated advocate of service-learning since high school, first became interested in the field while participating in famine relief in Kenya. Several years later at Vanderbilt University, Gray examined the impact of service-learning on social, personal, civic, and learning outcomes while earning a doctorate in Education and Human Development. Gray currently serves as director of the Landis Community Outreach Center at Lafayette College where she develops student leadership for community service, provides resources and support to faculty for service learning, and strengthens partnerships between the college and the community.

?We are very fortunate to attract someone with Dr. Gray?s background and experience to lead this dynamic organization,? said Dr. James T. Harris III, president of Widener University and chair of Pennsylvania Campus Compact. ?She will be a wonderful advocate for service learning and civic engagement throughout the Commonwealth.?

Campus Compact, a nationwide coalition of more than 900 colleges and universities (Pennsylvania Campus Compact consists of 64 schools), actively encourages institutions of higher education to participate in civic engagement and service-learning. Since 1992, Campus Compact has raised more than $22 million to support campus-based service efforts. Currently, more than 80% of Campus Compact?s member schools offer courses which link community service with academic content, and this percentage continues to rise.