Chris Freeman spearheads community engagement efforts at Maryville College as director of CES
April 11, 2024
Chris Freeman will “be the guide” for students with various community-oriented scholarships through his promotion to director of Community Engaged Scholars (CES) last fall.
As part of the Center for Community Engagement, Freeman’s new role positions him to assist students to serve, learn from and connect with communities beyond the MC campus. Service is a component of the College’s Statement of Purpose, and all students are encouraged to take part in a number of service roles that better connect them with local, national and global neighbors.
“I use the phrase ‘be the guide’ very specifically because I truly desire for the program to be at the direction of the students,” Freeman said. “I think that’s the only way programs like Bonner, and now the Community Engaged Scholars program, have been able to stay relevant for three decades.”
For more than three decades, that focus on civic engagement, community partnership and social responsibility has demanded strong leadership to direct students with service-learning scholarships. Freeman joined the Center in 2022 as the Community Engaged Scholars coordinator to support students in the Bonner, Bradford and Brahams scholarship programs.
Freeman is excited to provide a robust model for student leadership development and co-curricular learning opportunities. Originally from Georgia, Freeman earned his bachelor’s in theater education from Columbus State University, and his work in theater and customer service gave a strong lens from which to design student-centered programming.
“My experiences have given me a solid understanding that healthy communities are the backbone of our society, and it’s part of our mission as an institution that we work to strengthen our community, with the people in our community,” Freeman said.
“Chris works strategically to provide inclusive and student-centered activities for Community Engaged Scholars. As we continue to strengthen our student success and retention efforts at the College, his work with the Bonner program has proven to be a stellar model,” says Dr. Ja’Wanda Grant, vice president and dean of students.
In his current role, to which he was promoted in November 2023, Freeman is responsible for programs and activities for students with selected service-oriented scholarships. Freeman also collaborates with campus organizations like the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance to organize MC’s annual Nonprofit Fair, and the Bonner-funded Community Engaged Learning Initiative to support integration of community engagement across the curriculum.
Drawing on campus resources, as well as various organizations and leaders who partner with the CEC, Freeman has assembled a collection of components that are “critically important to create equitable engagement that is built on a foundation of justice — the base understanding that all of our resources should be designed to be shared.”