FLEX Day Draws 450 for Community Engagement Projects

More than 450 University of La Verne freshmen, transfer students, faculty and staff gathered on Aug. 27 to clean, garden, paint and volunteer at community organizations throughout the region.

The Freshman La Verne Experience (FLEX) and New Student Community Engagement Day took students across Southern California – from the Church of the Brethren just blocks away from campus, to the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles.

It was their first academic experience at the university, and their first chance to connect with faculty and make new friends.

“Today is one of the first days at the University of La Verne that you are majoring in your mission,” said University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman. “Pick a discipline, but major in a mission. It will carry you through the rest of your life.”

FLEX immerses incoming freshmen in learning communities – three courses the same students take together during the fall semester. Students are placed in communities based on their majors.

Dr. Kat Weaver, director of the La Verne Experience and associate professor of biology, urged students to get to know members of their FLEX communities. She also thanked participants for the impact their work has on the community.

“The community partners appreciate you so much. Your hours of community service that you do today will save the community thousands and thousands of dollars,” Weaver said.

For Clara Brandt of San Diego, volunteer work is not new. The creative writing major has accumulated 300 volunteer hours for a San Diego County library, where she helps organize books and tutor students. She worked with her FLEX group at Amy’s Farm in Ontario.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I’m ready to have some fun.”

Jack Kolodge, a freshman business major, worked with students at the Peace and Carrots Garden at the La Verne Church of the Brethren. Despite having an injured foot, he spent time shoveling compost materials. He said he has done much volunteer work here and abroad.

“I think it’s good to get the experience giving back to the community,” he said.

Athletic training major Clinton Bocanegra, who transferred to the university from San Bernardino Valley College, said he has done some community service, but nothing like FLEX Day.

“I’ve never done anything to this scale,” he said.

It was also a day of giving back for Orientation Week Leaders (OWLs), who participated as freshmen and returned to help new students get acclimated.

“If they do this without knowing each other, they can do anything together,” said Josh Bay, a sophomore communications major. “It’s a bond they’ll have for the rest of their lives.”

Associate Professor of Education Dr. Lynn Stanton-Riggs and Instructor of Music Michael Ryan took their FLEX students to the Boys and Girls Club of Pomona to paint, clean and organize classrooms. The pair planned to harness the students’ energy from that experience and use it for a new task once they returned to the classroom: songwriting.

Students will use the theme of childhood emotions to write and record a song to be performed by children’s music group The Happy Crowd.

“We hope to do a concert on campus,” Stanton-Riggs said. “They’ll perform their own music and ours.”