A Powerful Experience

by Mark Vidal
September 12, 2012

On August 25 more than 600 newly admitted freshman learned first-hand what their university is all about when they took part in the University of La Verne’s first FLEX (Freshman Learning Experience) Community Engagement Day.

With the help of 25 faculty and administrators, 28 OWLS (Orientation Week Leaders), and 26 buses and vans, students spent an entire Saturday traveling throughout the Inland Valley, Orange and Los Angeles counties to serve 16 different volunteer sites.

“This is a day not only for you to get to know your fellow students, but to get to know the greater community that you will be impacting over these next four years,” President Devorah Lieberman said as she addressed the largest freshman class in the university’s 121 year history. “Today is about connecting theory to practice, it’s about your La Verne Experience.”

The day of community service, coordinated by University Chaplain Zandra Wagoner, was part of an action-packed five-day new student orientation celebration, filled with activities to get new freshman acquainted with everything that La Verne is and has to offer.

From serving food on skid row at the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission to picking up trash on Bolsa Chica State Beach to assisting residents of Hillcrest Retirement Community with household chores, students felt the impact of the good that comes from giving back.

In addition to community engagement, the purposeful day provided the opportunity for students to bond with their peers and faculty within their respected FLEX groups.

Divided into 22 different FLEX Learning Communities, students participated in specific community engagement projects that complimented the courses they are currently enrolled in.