Eastern Washington University faculty, staff and students came together to celebrate the grand “re-opening” of the Office of Community Engagement, located at 115 Showalter Hall.
The Oct. 21 open house celebrated the rebirth of the community outreach center, which was closed for about four years.
The office, which re-opened mid-summer, serves as a hub for volunteerism, service-learning and internship – applied learning that benefits students while helping the larger community.
Mark Este, director of the Office of Community Engagement, said his team will focus on reestablishing partnerships with local organizations to connect students with opportunities and, also, to get those partners connected to campus.
“There’s definitely a lot of potential to build deep connections with our local community here – and people are ready for it – both on campus and off campus. Hopefully we can just get in there and be that bridge for all the great work that is already being done [at Eastern].”
Este wants the community to understand that Eastern is a resource and that “we are here to collaborate on various things.”
EWU President Shari McMahan shared her enthusiasm for seeing the lights back on after much collaborative planning – crediting Lea Jarnagin, vice president for student affairs, and Lorenzo Smith, university provost, with helping to create a sustainable model for community engagement into the future.
This outreach is closely intertwined with Eastern’s identity as the region’s polytechnic and reflects how we serve the region, said McMahan, adding, “This is what we do, we are an anchor institution. We are tied to our community.”
McMahan is looking forward to seeing community engagement develop into “a central part of the Eastern experience.”
Community partners, including Cheney Mayor Chris Grover and Airway Heights City Manager Albert Tripp, celebrated the opening of the office alongside the campus community, a reminder of the importance of such partnerships.
For Josh Ashcroft, associate vice president for campus life and leader of a team of EWU faculty and staff charged with creating a vision for the Office of Community Engagement, it was a welcome celebration.
“I’m very proud of the team and excited for what’s to come for Eastern,” Ashcroft said. “I just feel like there is so much opportunity, particularly with our community in Cheney and the West Plains and with our involvement in Spokane with Catalyst and all the work we are doing there.”
If you know of volunteer and/or internship opportunities for our students, please reach out to Mark Este at 509.359.2120 or email to meste@ewu.edu.
