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Lilly Grant Program turns eye to future

By Tom Vogel
June 8, 2007

Since its inception at St. Olaf in 2002, the Lilly Grant Program, "Lives of Worth and Service," has integrated the discussion of vocation into the fabric of the St. Olaf experience. Charged with aiding students, faculty, staff and alumni in their consideration of and reflection on vocation, the program has facilitated and inspired vocational discernment in a wide cross-section across the campus community. A few of the initiatives the programs have provided include scholarship awards and service-learning trips for students, workshops and discussion groups for faculty and staff, and the integration of vocational discernment activities into courses in a variety of disciplines.

In this, the program's fifth year and the final year of the original grant, an evaluation is in progress to assess its impact, particularly among this year's seniors, the first students to benefit from the program during their four years at St. Olaf.

Thomas Rusert
Thomas Rusert, who graduated with a religion major in 2006, has been interviewing students from this year's graduating class to gather personal assessments of the impact the Lilly Grant Program has had during their four years at St. Olaf.
St. Olaf alumnus Thomas Rusert, who graduated with a religion major in 2006, has been interviewing students from this year's graduating class to gather personal assessments of the impact the program has had during their four years at St. Olaf. Rusert asks students about such experiences as vocational internships, service trips abroad and taking courses taught by Lilly Teaching Fellows. He says the interviews have been "full of both reflection and revelation."

"A common response, especially when asking about the term 'vocation,' has been that it wasn't something many students thought about before they came to St. Olaf," Rusert says. "Now many say they can articulate what vocation is and what their sense of their own vocation is."

Charlie Morgan '07, who took a religion course on Buddhism developed by Lilly Teaching Fellow Professor of Religion Barbara Reed, says the class was a valuable way to end his time at St. Olaf. "It's really made me think about how I'm going to be a better person and how I can make others around me better," he says.

The Lilly evaluation and assessment will continue during 2007-08, focusing on faculty and staff response. Results of the evaluation will help guide St. Olaf in maintaining vocational discernment as an integral component of campus culture. In May 2006, the Lilly Endowment awarded St. Olaf College a $430,000, three-year grant to help the college transition and institutionalize some of the vocational exploration programs and services awarded in the original grant.

Summer Lilly
Lilly-supported experiences will continue this summer when Assistant Director of Annual Giving David Wagner '03 and six St. Olaf students travel to Honduras for a three-week service-learning trip in June. Alumna Lindsay Mack '02 will facilitate the Honduras experience, which will focus on service to congregations and communities throughout the country.
David Wagner
Wagner


The group will travel throughout the country to develop awareness of the different roles that the Lutheran church and other organizations play in working with communities and dealing with different social issues in the diverse regions. A wide range of experiences throughout the country will broaden the perspective of the program so students can explore connections to their personal vocation in varied settings.

In the Twin Cities seven St. Olaf students will spend the summer serving in urban congregations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and living at Luther Seminary as part of the fifth year of the Lilly Grant's Summer Vocational Community Internships. The churches in which the students will serve are noted for being active and involved in their communities. Director of Contextual Education Randy Nelson will serve as site facilitator to provide insight, advice and direction for students to think through the experience and its meaning to their lives and callings.

This year's interns are:

Erin Armstrong '09
Galilee Lutheran, St. Paul
Kathleen LaRochelle '08
Our Saviour's, Minneapolis
Abigail Matthews '08
Augustana Lutheran, Minneapolis
Denise Miller '08
Redeemer Lutheran, Minneapolis
Jonathan Holtmeier '08
Calvary Lutheran, Minneapolis
Nathaniel Preisinger '08
Gloria Dei Lutheran, St. Paul
Peter Schattauer '08
Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, St. Paul.


-- With contributions by Paula Schanilec, CEL administrator and budget coordinator.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.