The College Voice

Issue date: 3/9/09 Section: Features

Bonner Leader, Piers Duffel.

With the motto "Serve, Learn and Earn," the Bonner Leader Program's students at Mercer commit their time to give back to the community. Although the program has been on and off for a number of years, this academic year, under the direction of communications Professor Donna Munde, the program has been re-launched.

The Bonner Leader Program engages students nationwide. Corella and Bertram Bonner established the Bonner Foundation in 1990 to financially support and encourage leadership amongst striving students. Currently, the foundation provides scholarships through more than 70 colleges in America. The NJ Bonner Leader program is also supported by federal funds through Americorps.

Last September, ten Mercer students enrolled in the program. Munde says that the purpose of the program is "to help create a culture of service on campus." Bonner Students are required to complete 300 hours of service within a 10 month period of time. The location of the service projects varies from the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK), Trenton After School Program, Habitat for Humanity, the Dream Program and even Rutgers Organic Farm.

The rewards of Bonner Leader service do not just go one way. Piers Duffell, an Honors Program and Bonner Leader student, says how he as benefited from the program in a variety of ways. Duffell says that his self-confidence has increased as he sees how the children he tutors and mentor at the Trenton After School Program admire him and look up to him as a role model. Duffel adds that he has also learned mediation skills and how to "make kids listen by getting on their terms."

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