Bonner beginnings
During the spring of 1991, David Powell ’66 was asked by Dr. Dean Boldon, then dean of academic affairs, if he would work as a liaison between the College and the Princeton, N.J.-based Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation in establishing a scholarship program that would provide access to higher education and an opportunity for students to serve their communities.
In 1998, Dave Powell '66 (second from left) made his first MOOSE trip with MC students. The Bonner Scholars Program has helped grow the three-week service trip to western national parks.
Powell, who was a writing instructor at the College at the time, agreed to take on the duties, which meant communicating regularly with people at the foundation who were trying to iron out the specifics of a relatively new program. The Bonner Scholars Program had been piloted at Berea College in 1990, and foundation founders Corella and Bertram Bonner, along with foundation president Wayne Meisel, were looking to add to the number of participating colleges in the Appalachian region.
“Dean knew my interest in service was high,” Powell said. “I told him that I was interested and saw a wonderful opportunity for the College to focus on service. With the Bonner Scholars Program, I believed that we could market ourselves as a school that had service programs.”
Certainly, the College already had a long history of service to the community. With his personal commitment to “do good on the largest possible scale,” founder Isaac Anderson was an excellent example of munificence for his young students – traveling the countryside to preach and organize churches, securing the freedom of an African slave, opening his home to poor pupils, founding a seminary. His attitude toward service was passed on through faculty and staff members, and for decades, Maryville College students could be counted on to give of their time in churches, schools and community centers.
It was this legacy that Powell believed could be built upon, and Bonner Foundation officials seemed to agree, naming Maryville College one of 11 participating Bonner Scholar schools in 1991. Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City was the only other Bonner Scholar school selected in Tennessee.
Working with Donna Franklin Davis ‘83, then vice president for admissions, Powell went through prospective students’ applications for the Class of 1995, searching for incoming freshmen who met the foundation’s criteria for the program. Qualified students included those who demonstrated financial need (providing Appalachian students access to higher education was very important to the Bonners), academic and leadership abilities and a previous interest in community service.
With 29 selected for that first class, Powell and the Rev. Stephen Nickle, who had just been hired as chaplain and director of volunteer services and would take over the Bonner Scholars Program, attended a Bonner Foundation retreat during the summer in North Carolina, meeting coordinators from other schools.
When the academic year opened (and for many subsequent years), Powell continued to stay involved with the Bonners by leading their Orientation class.
Today, he said he’s “amazed” at the number of service organizations and projects that students are involved in. In 1998 – seven years after the Bonner Scholars came to campus – he led the first group of Maryville College students on the Maryville Outdoor Outreach Service Experience (MOOSE) trip. MOOSE takes students west for a three-week period during the summer, where they camp and volunteer at national parks. Typical work completed at the park includes painting, brush removal and campsite clean-up.
The interest in MOOSE has always been high among students, and Powell credits this to the Bonner Scholars Program. Because of it, students understand why service is important and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Because of the Bonner Scholars Program, students also know how uplifting it can be to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
About the program
Bonners who choose to participate in MOOSE can count those hours toward the 280 hours of service that are required during the summer, and to keep the scholarship, students are required to volunteer two of their three summers as an enrolled MC student. The Bonner Foundation provides up to $1,500 to each student for travel and living expenses.
During the school year, students are asked to devote at least 10 hours a week at their Bonner service placement. Volunteer duties and work sites can range from mentoring youth at a local middle school to reading to the visually impaired at a retirement center. (See pages 20-21.) Students are encouraged to find and arrange their own placements, taking into account their own vocational interests and personal calling, but Preston Fields ’03, coordinator for the Bonner Scholars Program, does assist in making placements.
Annually, each Bonner receives a $2,100 stipend that can go toward tuition, as well as a $300 check every semester for books.
In the last five years, the Bonner Foundation has instituted trips for first-year Bonners and junior-year Bonners and provides funding for them. Students in their first year in the program choose an area of need to focus on (homelessness, literacy, healthcare, etc.), research it together and then take an off-campus trip so that they can see the need up close and participate in activities that address it. Since the Bonner Foundation introduced these trips, Maryville College students have spent the first week of their summer vacations on Native American reservations in Oklahoma, with border patrol agents and immigration ministries in Arizona and at homeless shelters and soup kitchens in Washington, D.C.
Bonners finishing their junior year are given the opportunity to experience service abroad. During the summer of 2006, several students traveled to Peru, where they assisted missionaries and helped construct a wall around a village.
Orientations and “reorientations” (for returning students) at the beginning of each school year are required of Bonners. Fields organizes other retreats and regular meetings. Reflection is a major component of the Bonner Scholars Program; he and students gather frequently to talk about placements, service work, what they’re observing and learning. Often, students are required to turn in journals and reflection papers after special projects and trips.
Today, Maryville College welcomes 15 Bonners with each new class, guaranteeing a group of 60 in the student body at any given time. Fields said within the larger group, the Bonner Foundation encourages the College to use the scholarships to achieve gender, racial and ethnic diversity.
