Lafayette College, Easton, PA
Posted by: Noel Jones
I would like to draw attention to a great discussion that has been going on in the comments of another post below, entitled "More Silk Mill." The conversation started out being about the Silk Mill project, but then digressed into a long exchange about the role of Lafayette College in Easton's community. Being that I think it's a very rich discussion, I wanted to bring it out in its own post.
Some residents commenting suggest that Lafayette is a rich kids' college, high on a hill, whose only involvement in the community is to do studies for internships. Others comment on all of the programs that Lafayette offers the community, from children's programs to lectures and entertainment. Bringing Majora Carter to town stands out as a great offering by the college to the community this year. The question of whether or not Lafayette actively recruits
youth from Easton to apply to their college, and whether or not a student from Easton would be able to afford tuition if accepted is also discussed.
One of the most interesting parts of the discussion to me, is the debunking of the widely-held notion that Lafayette does not pay property taxes. Apparently, while Lafayette does not pay taxes on educational buildings, the college is one of our biggest tax payers, as it pays on all other properties that it owns, which adds up to a lot of tax money.
These are all issues worthy of discussion, and it's important that certain misperceptions are dispelled, while real issues are discussed openly so that Lafayette and the community can partner effectively to help bring about the revitalization of Easton.
Please join the discussion after reading the comments on the "More Silk Mill" article below, and then post your comments here.
Yours,
Noel Jones
Neighbors of Easton
Posts
41 comments:
Hello bloggers,
My name is Alan Raisman, a senior at Lafayette College. I am unsure as to why this topic has not come up, but I am glad that it was brought up before I graduate in May. I would like to mention some of the opportunities Lafayette College offers to residents of Easton and the Easton area.
Lafayette's Skillman Library has three computers that are open to the public and can be used without signing into the Lafayette College system. Residents of Easton can also become Friends of Skillman Library. For $50, residents of Easton can become a Friend and take out books just like any Lafayette student. Membership ends on June 30 of each year.
http://library.lafayette.edu/friendsform
Lafayette College's Williams Center for the Arts provides outstanding performances for anyone to see. The shows do have a fee, but they are not as expensive as the shows at the State Theatre.
http://www.lafayette.edu/calendar/events.php/41/
Lafayette College provides lectures every week that are open to the public, and Lafayette student organizations offer programs that are open to the public as well. Last week, we brought the Guerrilla Girls on Tour to the Williams Center, and thirteen Easton residents attended the event. In the past, we have also had Easton residents attend lectures by David McCullough and Salman Rushdie.
You can find out about events at the Lafayette online calendar, and you can select which calendar you would like to view. Most events on Lafayette College's campus are free and open to the public.
http://www.lafayette.edu/calendar/events.php/16/
Lafayette College also provides programs off campus to residents to attend. On December 8 and 15, the Lafayette College Technology Clinic will be presenting public workshops on storm water. These will take place at 7 PM on both days at the Easton Area Community Center in Easton's West Ward.
http://www.lafayette.edu/news.php/view/14416-campusnews
The Lafayette College Landis Community Outreach Center has over twenty-five service programs which provide assistance to residents in Easton, Phillipsburg, and the surrounding area.
The Landis Community Outreach Center also has events on Lafayette's campus where Easton children are brought up to enjoy the college environment. Events include Literacy Day and the Miller-Keystone Blood Drive. On Literacy Day, "the Landis Center invites youth from the Easton Community to participate in a day of events related to reading. Led by teams of student-run committees, the theme is centered around a different book each year and all activities are implemented by Lafayette student volunteers. To promote reading at home, each child is given a variety of parting gifts, including the book of the year and other school supplies."
http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~outreach/community/campusevents.php
Please come to Lafayette College's campus and enjoy the numerous events we put on. Our door is always open, and we welcome you to our campus.
Regards,
Alan Raisman
Lafayette College Student
Alan, thank you for your post. You seem like a very bright and nice young man. Your comments about your school are right on! I've lived in Easton all my life anduse the college a lot. Cultural programs, lectures, art shows, atheletic events, to name a few.
I also appreciate the good things the college is doing for the city. The college, like all other institutions or business are growing. It's nice to see the college grow and bring more students and attention to our city.
Lafayette,Part One
The enigma of Lafayette brings many anecdotal experiences - old and new - to mind. I'll just throw them out and see what happens.
They are a great resource to the city and it's residents. As with anything as complex as a university, there are good and bad points that can be made but no one should take a black and white position on the school. We need to honestly assess, criticize and improve the relationship without pointing fingers.
Has the college done well by reaching out and working to physically improve the surrounding neighborhood? Yes. Remember though that a lot of that area is a processional route to their campus. It is my belief that their plans are mostly self-serving, which they have a right to be. This doesn't mean as Eastonians we shouldn't use the college's resources to improve our lot in life.
As a member of the zoning rewrite task force I know the college pressured us heavily to increase the size of the campus This would have allowed tax exempt, classroom structures to be built all the way to Cattel Street. We said no - as we also said no to the county when they wanted to expand beyond the current courthouse area.
Lafayette's current long range campus plan calls for closing Hamilton Street from High to Pierce and turning it into a campus lawn...looks good but is this the best thing for the city and why no public input?
Students have been responsible for vandalism on the Hill and Downtown...conspicuously, vandalism along the walking routes from the bars to campus. This is a fact. At the Majora Carter presentation at Oechsle Hall a few weeks ago a picture was shown of Scott Park and the falls of the Lehigh into the Delaware River. The Lafayette student sitting next to me said "Where's that?".
Do a lot of kids come to Lafayette from priveleged backgrounds to attend the school and look down their noses at Easton? Of course. They've been spoiled brats since I partied there in the seventies...a bigger, more disgusting bunch of drunken bums you will never find. Many of them wasted a great opportunity and are still bums today. Doesn't mean there aren't a great core of students reaching out as Alan does to serve the community. Remember, they aren't psychologists, trying to read our minds as to what we really need or think. They are just trying to calibrate their own, very young social responsibility compasses through trial and error in the real world.
DRL
Lafayette, Part Two
I used the Skillman Library resources as an Architecture student at Northampton Community College...for about $10/yr then. I've attended many cultural and community building events at various campus venues. Lafayette helped me stage James Howard Kunstler's lecture at Colton Chapel in 2003 and two APA online planning clinics the following year.
The bottom line emotion for me is frustration and not hatred or envy towards the school. They seem to veer from being heavy handed one day to being scared of their own shadow the next, depending on the topic.
I met with Gary Evans when he was still in charge of the physiacl plant and serving as liason to the city on the Bushkill corridor. I told him not to fear the citizens and that the college should take the very arrogant position that the whole city was their campus. I told him to go for it and improve every entry route into the city as if it were the quad. Lastly, I told him that if the college came up with good, well vetted plans for Easton that I'd help line up a hundred people to support them.
I thought the conversation went well. A few months later, the college met with Paul Marin of LVEDC to set up a presentation on passenger rail for the Lehigh Valley. Paul told them that he'd do it but that he had already scheduled a presentation in Easton. After they asked him who was sponsoring it and he told them it was me they had a shit fit. They said I would be against everything and obstruct his plans. He told them they were way off base and that I'd been working with him on it from the beginning.
Like I said, if I had to come up with one term to describe my relationship with Lafayette it would be frustration. But lets keep the dialogue going.
DRL
I would like bang a drum that I've been banging recently on this blog, which is the importance of marketing. There is a difference between being open to the public, as in no one being barred at the door, and marketing to bring people in. I feel strongly that both Lafayette and the City could benefit from a concentrated marketing campaign that makes residents AWARE of what is open to the public.
I know some Easton residents who take in performances and lectures at the campus regularly, but they are mostly from College Hill. It does seem to me that Lafayette has integrated with the community on College Hill well, but the question is, is College Hill Lafayette's college town, or is Easton Lafayette's college town?
Shirley Ramirez, Amina DeBurst and Bonnie Winfield have all made genuine efforts recently to reach out to the West Ward community, and even arranged a free bus to take any interested WW residents from our neighborhood to the Majora Carter lecture. Unfortunately the bus broke down on 611, but that is not Lafayette's fault. I ended up driving as many residents as I could fit in my car up to the lecture, and only one had ever been to the campus in her lifetime, and I got the impression that it was only once. Some other residents car pooled up the hill as well, and at least we had a small group of residents from our neighborhood who got to attend. The residents that came with me really enjoyed it, and would like to know about future events, but they do not have regular computer access at home and do not read the blog. They found out word of mouth, through some last minute coordination between Laura Accetta of Weed & Seed and myself.
The point is that for real engagement in an economically depressed community to happen, whether it is public programs offered by Lafayette, or public input meetings held by the City, it requires a marketing effort that goes beyond a newspaper article, or posting to a web site.
I am very encouraged that Shirley, Amina and Bonnie have been reaching out, and hope to see that continue.
I would also love it if someone would post here about the Green Design Lab that Lafayette has created to study and produce green design systems for historic homes in need of rehab. I know this may sound to one of our earlier commentors like another instance of Lafayette using the WW as a lab, but there will be concrete benefits to our neighborhood on the other end of this project, in the form of homes rehabbed to green standards, eliminating blight and insuring low utility bills for whoever buys the homes, not to mention offering opportunities for local contractors.
But all of this could be better marketed to residents, at the very least, in mailer form and poster form, so that residents begin to see how much Lafayette is doing in the neighborhood.
Part one: Facilitating change. What is that saying I heard while living in Tennessee? “Change moves as slowly as molasses in January?”
When I first came to Easton, Benny Green, my favorite jazz pianist was performing at the Piano Loft. I was told by the new president, Dan Weiss that Lafayette was making civic engagement a priority for students, faculty, and staff. With these two things in mind, I accepted the position as director of the Landis Community Outreach Center. The mission of the Landis Center is “to cultivate personal, civic and intellectual growth for students through meaningful and effective service experiences and foster college-community partnerships that contribute to the well-being of the community, both local and global.” Both Lafayette faculty and staff and community leaders developed this mission.
My goal in accepting that position was basically two-fold: to change the image of Easton from “shady” (a word used by the majority of students in defining the community) and to change the concept of “volunteering” to that of active citizen. At the time of my arrival on the Lafayette College campus, first year students (aka Freshman) were told by other students that Easton was shady and dangerous. Some students still say that they avoid Easton because they are afraid they will be shot. (Seriously, where does this idea come from?) Also, when I arrived some students involved in the Landis Center may have thought of themselves as the savior in a way for the “poor, at-risk, kids” whom they worked with in our KIC (Kids in Community) program. I thought, “This would have to change.”
I have been here in Easton for four years. I have experienced many changes and many frustrations at the college and as a resident of Easton. Today, first year students are introduced to a very different Easton. Orientation Leaders during their training sessions, are welcomed to downtown by business leaders and the Mayor for a tour ending with an incredible evening at the Purple Cow. They no longer use the word “shady” when they speak to the new students. With the leadership of Alan Raisman, as he has previously mentioned in his postings on this blog, students attend other activities and events such as the Farmer’s Market, the No Name Community Saturday Breakfast. During our Pre-Orientation Service Program for 30 first year students, returning student leader introduce the first years to service in the Easton community not as volunteers, rather as active citizens. One of the events of this program, is a community dinner where these Lafayette students share a meal with community leaders in dialogue about Easton, its past, present, and future. At that dinner an award is given to an outstanding citizen for their civic engagement. It is now called the Nadine Loane Civic Engagement Award.
Part Two: At the Landis Center under the leadership of Amber Zuber, we now promote and act on a continuum of service and leadership model. We still offer one-time “volunteer” opportunities such as the national Make a Difference Day where students paint rooms for the Children’s Home and plant daffodils in Dutchtown Park as well as a dozen other projects every fall. And in the spring we facilitate Lafapalooza another one-day volunteer opportunity with similar projects. In addition we have 30 plus students who are employed, many through federal work study, to coordinate our partnerships with community agencies. These students attend trainings, retreats, and educational reflections to better understand what it means to be a citizen and to go beyond the mentality of “just volunteering.” They in turn educate their 300 plus Lafayette volunteers in their acts of service. These students act as mentors and tutors to children and teens. They bring music and art to the elders at Third Street Alliance and the Easton Senior Center. Each week a small group of students cooks and eats dinner with women at Third Street Alliance and enjoys conversation and games with the residents at Safe Harbor. I could add another hundred words or more in describing the work of these students. Our work is based on a Social Change Model of Leadership. It is about partnerships, collaboration, and a life-long commitment to service.
I cannot speak for anyone else at the college, but I would like to see a true partnership between Lafayette and the Easton community. We are interconnected and interdependent. We all have expertise and resources that can benefit each other and the community at large. The students bring incredible energy and new ways of thinking. Faculty bring their expertise in their specific disciplines. Community members bring their own expertise through their work and most importantly their life in the community. It is through dialogue that we can learn how to share these resources for the good of Easton, which of course in turn is for the good of the college and each of us.
I am teaching a course in the spring about Urban Ecology – the relationship between nature, people and the built environment. I would like this to be a community-based course and invite any of you to be a part of it. It will meet on Wednesday evenings 7-9:30. We could meet on campus or in the community. Last year we worked on some mapping projects such as community gardens and urban trails. This year’s projects are yet to be determined. I am open to ideas.
At the opening of Star Trek Next Generation, Capt Picard gives the order “engage” as the camera moves to show the Enterprise moving into space. I would like us to take on that same order and to engage with each other through dialogue and service to become true partners in this enterprise of making Easton, the entire 4 square miles, the best it can be.
When I attended my first City Council meeting, I was asked if I was required to attend for a school assignment. I said no.
When I conducted my One Word - One City project two years ago, I was asked if I was conducting my research for a letter grade. I said no.
The "spoiled brats" you speak of Dennis give to Easton's economy every day. They eat Easton's food, drink Easton's alcohol, and rent Easton's spaces for dances. I would also like to point out that students and organizations at Lafayette College have not only given to restaurants and bars but have also donated time and money to organizations in need.
This semester's Hunger and Homelessness Week at Lafayette College donated $450 to Second Harvest Food Bank. This semester, students and our Dining Services collected 1589.65 pounds of food which was donated to Feeding America. Since 2007, the Delta Delta Delta sorority hosts a pancake breakfast to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In 2007, they raised $6,500 and since 1999, they raised over $3.5 million through other means. In 2002, Phi Kappa Psi and KDR raised over $9,000 for the Spring Garden Children's Center, the 9/11 Children's Fund, and the Children's Home of Easton.
In the past three years, I have connected students at Lafayette College with residents of Easton's College Hill, Downtown, and South Side through the No Name Community. We meet every Saturday for breakfast and converse as neighbors. I have connected Lafayette College students with residents of the Easton area through Dancing on the Thirds.
You can access the Lafayette College newspaper online for free at http://www.thelaf.com/. There, you can read about our lectures, our events, and our athletics but after they occur.
Regarding not knowing where Scott Park is, I did not know until I attended the Doo Dah Parade two years ago. No one can expect people to know every destination in their town or city. It is a learning process, and I found my way through Easton by walking around and asking people to show me around. Now, I work with the Main Street Initiative to coordinate walks of Downtown Easton for Lafayette student organizations including the Orientation Leaders.
Do changes need to be made? YES! But are there students who want to work with you to make sure that we are on the same page? ABSOLUTELY! When we visit any neighborhood in Easton, do not expect that we are doing it for a grade. Do we want to learn something from our experiences? YES, but that should be of any experience. I would hope that an Easton resident would want to learn something if they were to come to Lafayette's campus.
An average Lafayette College has four years to experience what most people in Easton experience in a lifetime. We cannot do everything, and we cannot be perfect. But we try to be welcoming, and we try to be a good neighbor. But we need those on the other end to accept us, to welcome us, and to treat us as neighbors too. I have been welcomed with open arms in Easton, and that is why I got involved. If I were called a "spoiled brat" the first time I walked into Easton's Downtown, West Ward, or South Side, I would have just walked right back up the hill. There needs to be change on both ends, and we need to be open to learning from each other.
Thanks for all your hard work, Bonnie! I have to constantly remind myself that change does not come overnight, but incrementally (which drives me nuts, but there it is).
Most people I talk to in the community, while acknowledging that there is still a lot of work to be done, also say that things have steadily improved in the last 3-5 years here. I can only speak for the last 3 years in which I've lived here, and I have definitely seen improvement, especially with regard to residents feeling less isolated and more of a sense of community. We still have a long way to go, but the efforts of a lot of different groups and individuals, along with the City and Lafayette, have contributed to progress along the way. We just need to keep it going.
Your class sounds interesting--be sure to send me some info as we get closer to the class starting, and I will be happy to post it to the blog for residents who would like to attend.
I think that we are forgetting what the college is all about. It is a private institution. Those people who pay 40 to 60 thousand to go there don't take seconds in a line with Easton residents in front. The college came up with an answer for residents who wanted to use their facilities, they charge. They don't go out of their way to publicize it either. The Library exists for students. We Easton residents have our own free facility. If you have legitimate research, the college permits you to use their facility with a charge. The building is not open to homeless as many public libraries are-thanks to the supreme court. I'm sorry that the posts are well meaning. Invites come from the administration and not the student body. If the campus is overrun with Easton residents the college will never legitimize its fees. The admin has always invited the public to their lectures. I f they relied on the student body, particularly for Williams shows, there would be many empty seats. I thought your president was attempting to push Williams attendance by inviting students to his house for dinner prior to the shows. Classical music just doesn't sell to Third Eye Blind fans.
One excellent point made was Lafayette's efforts to change zoning policy.
They have purchased all this property with the intent of expanding the campus.
I accept the fact that they must expand. Each year the student body increases by a few to cover increasing costs.
The college needs to come to terms with the city with a long term plan. I suggest that the college consider a payment in lieu of taxes and expand their campus.
That's fair to everyone.
Anon 12:10,
The administration does post events on the calendar for those who do not attend Lafayette and want to know about events. But students have also tried to reach out. I send out event information to individuals who I know would be interested. I informed an environmental lawyer about a human rights lecture at the college, and I sent out a mass email to my neighbors about events relating to ending violence against women.
I have been to President Weiss' house three times for dinner, twice with the International Student Association and once with the Lafayette Student Initiative. President Weiss has been very welcoming to the student body. The Williams Center provides free tickets to students, but that admission fee is covered in our tuition to Lafayette College. They are trying to push events for students to attend, and they are succeeding.
Thank you Noel for opening this discussion to everyone! I look forward to reading more responses!
If Lafayette is a for profit then all that is being listed here is the stuff of very good neighborness.
If Lafayette is a non profit then
its mission statement should be guiding work which has to be in the public interest. Charging students money and then allowing or requiring them to do service work in the community is for profit - the students are paying for their education as it is defined by the college. Also, if volunteering its students was the core piece of the colleges non profit mission then there would be evidence in the colleges everyday business, coursework for teachers, social workers, medicine, or anything at a graduate school level attracting students who have interest, talent and aptitude in the social service area. Then there would be value added to the community service. As it is we are not being fair to the Lafayette students. More clarity on the mission of Lafayette College is needed.
I think you are missing my point. When the student body decides to attend an event, there is no space for Easton residents. Case in point, Lafayette's last win of the Patriot League basketball championship was played at Kirby. Students got first pick for tickets and took them. There were only a handful of seats for non students. All those people who faithfully attended the games had to settle for television seats. My point, when students go, that invite to Easton residents is meaningless.
Lafayette College's mission statement is the following:
"In an environment that fosters the free exchange of ideas, Lafayette College seeks to nurture the inquiring mind and to integrate intellectual, social, and personal growth. The College strives to develop students' skills of critical thinking, verbal communication, and quantitative reasoning and their capacity for creative endeavor; it encourages students to examine the traditions of their own culture and those of others, to develop systems of values that include an understanding of personal, social, and professional responsibility, and to regard education as an indispensable, life-long process."
http://www.lafayette.edu/academics/mission.html
Lafayette College as an institution does not require students to do community service. Some classes require students to participate in community service, but community service is essential to the course. My First Year Seminar, Possibilities of Community, required that I participate in community service. But the required community service caused me to get involved early on, and I continued. If not for the required community service, I may have stayed on Lafayette's campus rather than walking Downtown.
-------------------------
Anon 4:52,
Lafayette's tuition is high because a part of our tuition pays for admission to the Williams Arts Center, athletic events, and other programs. Because we are paying the fees in our tuition, we should be able to attend the events on our campus. One of the problems Lafayette College faces are small facilities. If our facilities were larger, we could have more people attend. But if few people attend our events, Lafayette College has no incentive to expand the individual facilities. Students want to expand the Williams Arts Center, but Lafayette needs to see greater attendance in order to have a reason to expand. The Patriot League Championship game may have caused Kirby Gym to be filled to capacity, but that is very rare. We want students to attend Lafayette College events, for they are the main audience. Students are paying to attend Lafayette College, and they are paying for these programs. Students are paying for the athletic scholarships, and students are paying to bring musical talent on to campus.
I want Easton residents to attend Lafayette College events, but I want Easton residents to understand that our $37,000 tuition does not all go towards academic programming. Only 10% of our tuition is payed to our professors. 90% of our tuition goes to other means. That is what is making Lafayette College self-sufficient.
There are tremendous financial advantages to being a 501c3 non profit (example, not paying taxes on properties etc) That is why the federal government requires that a non profit have a mission that is "in the public interest" and requires it major activities be "in the public interest." The mission statement quoted above (Alan)is a description of what the college does for the non discounted price of admission. That would be FOR PROFIT. Many in this community are not perceiving a not for profit character in Lafayette College but are able to perceive and appreciate the personal offerings of students who volunteer. Clarification of Lafayette's status as a legal entity and the nature of its public obligations, if any, would certainly help this discussion or perhaps end it.
The Lafayette College class of 2013 has the following student breakdown:
3 students from Bangladesh, 1 student from Belgium, 5 students from Bulgaria, 4 students from Canada, 23 students from China, 1 student from Ethiopia, 3 students from France, 2 students from Germany, 4 students from India, 2 students from Jamaica, 1 student from Japan, 1 student from Kenya, 1 student from Mexico, 3 students from Nepal, 2 students from Pakistan, 1 student from Panama, 1 student from Peru, 1 student from the Philippines, 1 student from the Russian Federation, 3 students from South Korea, 1 student from Switzerland, 1 student from Taiwan, 6 students from the United Kingdom, 1 student from Venezuela, and 4 students from Vietnam.
Of the United States, the Lafayette College class of 2013 is from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Of the 616 students in the freshmen class, 289 are receiving College-funded grants or scholarships totaling $8,447,380.
http://www.lafayette.edu/admissions/2013profile.pdf
Lafayette College, as well as any college or university, certainly serves public interest.
the tax code is rather simple: a charitable organization that promotes education operates in the public interest
Lots of organizations promote education - you cant assume that means they are charitable or deserve tax exemption. Sylvan Learning Centers are for profit for example. To be tax exempt a school might discount their admission in some way to show they operate in the public interest (Northampton Community College) or they might do something else.
Vice President for Institutional Planning and Community Engagement, talks about why Lafayette College is an extraordinary place that offers tremendous opportunities to students from all walks of life and a life-changing education. Topics include diversity, affordability, the college's location near New York City and Philadelphia, study abroad, and community service. ... "Lafayette College" college education diversity "financial aid" "study abroad" "community service" affordability affordable ......
http://tubezona.com/lafayette-college-dr-shirley-ramirez/
This article may bring some perspective to what is being discussed as the issues are not limited to Easton.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2009/5/21/harvards-role-as-a-nonprofit-harvard/
Look at lafayette's tax returns and you will see that they seek contributions and use those contributions to provide education. The tax code is complex and the college is required to expend a percentage of their assets annually to promote education. It is very simple. They operate in the public interest.
I guess one element of this conversation worth identifying is what is meant when people say "public interest." Alan is describing reaching out to national and global diversity as serving public interest. Some of the Easton residents are talking more specifically about the public interest of Easton residents, which points back to the question from earlier in the conversation--what is a healthy college town? In what other states and small-medium cities is the student body successfully integrated and interacting with the population and businesses of the city?
One example that comes to my mind is Providence, R.I. Any time you walk through downtown there during the school months, you will see downtown businesses, cafes, restaurants, shops, with a lot of students in them, mingling amongst the resident adult and teen populations. The same can be said for the bars and music venues at night.
I don't interpret the college's mission or vision statement as you do. I believe that the college is stating that community service is part of education. You have to turn back the clock and think of a true liberal arts education and the development of the whole person to understand the education relevance. Plato and Aristotle were early writers on the concept. Plato emphasized military conscription as community service. Aristotle appears to broaden the definition to develop "virtuous" citizens participating in government and improving social ills.
An article from the Landis Community Outreach Center's Campus Community Connection newsletter:
"The Provost's Advisory Committee on Community Based Learning and Research is discussing and proposing initiatives to facilitate student and faculty engagement in service and community-based learning. The committee is composed of 16 members. The members include two students, professors representing a variety of disciplines, members of the Easton community, and Lafayette professional staff invested in promoting community-based service and academic opportunities. The committee's vision involves creating an umbrella organization for community-based initiatives; it would include direct service of the Landis Community Outreach Center as well as service-learning and community-based research courses. This umbrella organization would be a resource for students and faculty, serving as a repository of knowledge for community-based activities & research. Such an organization could assist faculty and students in identifying what has been done in the past, inform them of existing community needs, establish connections with community partners, and identify new needs. It is the hope of the committee that establishing a center of Community Based Learning and Research would encourage faculty to use community-based learning approaches, making it easier for them to identify community needs and contact community partners."
Lafayette College is moving in the right direction. My hope is that Easton residents move away from the mindset of Lafayette using the community as a "laboratory for human study" and into the mindset that we are all neighbors. As neighbors, we need to communicate. As neighbors, we need to share ideas. As neighbors, we need to interact.
In order to see students in restaurants and cafes, students need to be seen as neighbors and not as spoiled brats. In order to see students in bars and music venues at night, students need to be seen as neighbors and not as drunken bums.
We need to remember the past, but we need to look to the future. We need to see what his happening now and see how we can work together.
Community service is part of a liberal arts education. And Lafayette serves a charitable purpose through its extension of scholarships throughout the globe. Nothing offered here in this blog indicates that Lafayette has any public obligation to the City of Easton, though evidently it was founded by Easton residents and the first classes were about manual labor and took place on the banks of the rivers.
There's no obligation to the city. There appears to be a moral obligation to its residents. I sense that the original intent of the college was to provide an educational opportunity for residents. This is different from community service. The night school program which offers limited engineering degrees for residents would be part of that thought. The art department which offers classroom instruction for local high school seniors would be part of that. The assistance I received from a full professor as an 8th grade student doing a science fair project would be part of that moral commitment. The college has evolved. At one time the college had a preparatory school for local residents. So, there is that obligation that involves the administration and faculty and not the student body. One complaint was always why limit the night school to engineering?
The issue here is not about the students who even at their worst cant touch the scary stuff that West Ward residents live with everyday.
The issue may be about corporate behavior and how difficult it is for individuals and small communities to not be overwhelmed when they try to move on their own self interests. And also that corporations use public relations techniques to manipulate communities. And they dont announce that they are manipulating you they say they are "helping." But the bus always breaks down.
This is not a slap to Lafayette, but I have experienced a lot of other colleges that have done better within their neighboring communities than they have - including RISD in Providence. Models are out there. I don't know what is taking us so long to get anywhere...other than a long history of disaffected college bureaucrats and feable city government. No - I'm not talking about the current state of affairs...relax Alan, no rebuttal necessary.
DRL
Lafayette College has been an excellent neighbor to me.
When in graduate school at ESU for 3 years in the mid-1990s, I was able to walk to LC campus from the West Ward. I was a member of Skillman Library where, once a week I would drive, load the car with books, and return the previous ton from their amazing well-funded collections. So often the book bindings would 'crack' as I opened them for the first time. Party schools can be good that way, LOL!
Much of my research was performed there, as well as at Princeton Library, Lehigh University, the Northampton County Historical and Geneological Society Collection, and the history room at the Easton Area Public Library.
LC saved me much driving to the ESU campus library. The reference staff were always extremely helpful.
At other times, Lafayette Campus provided a valuable and sometimes surprising community resource.
When the Twin Towers were destroyed by that infamous faith-based initiative on 9/11/01, Earl and I went to campus to watch the event unfold on the giant TV in the student center, since we pulled the plug on cable or broadcast TV since 1980.
That bewildering evening, we were grateful to participate in an impromptu candlelight vigil on campus. It was truly comforting to have a place to go and not be isolated on that awful evening, when Harrisburg, where I worked, was evacuated.
When LC was named a top 'homophobic' college by the Princeton Review, in the 1990s(?), in response, the heterosexual faculty, staff, and students at LC created a thriving alliance of allies. They are very busy to this day.
They asked me and others in the Easton community to speak to a large gathering of LC students and faculty, sharing our stories as representatives of Easton's non-heterosexual community.
On National Coming Out Day, this same LC group, which I was told began as a group of heterosexual allies, sponsored events on campus educating the campus and community about heterosexist prejudice and discrimination.
Since retiring this spring back to Easton fulltime, in good weather my morning walk usually includes a loop around the campus, which has always been welcoming and pleasant. The botanical specimens and the birdwatching are always a joy. That hill is certainly good cardio!
Not to mention the many lectures, music, theatre, and dance performances and gallery exhibitions I've enjoyed on campus over the decades.
While Easton may not be a conventional 'college town' like where my alma mater PSU was, there is much 'town and gown' interaction that enriches both sides of the ivy walls.
Tim, I'm sorry that I miss you when you visit campus, but I guess that means I spend too much time off campus.
Three college friends of mine went with me to dinner last night at Ashley's in the West Ward. Sydney from Terra Cafe said they are going to start a study group in the middle of January for students at Northampton Community College and Lafayette College. The Cosmic Cup is currently hosting artwork by the Lafayette Association of Visual Artists, and Just Around the Corner is currently selling artwork made by a Lafayette student.
This topic is drawing a lot of attention and, it seems to me, more than a little confusion.
First of all, from my conversations with students at Lafayette, I would say that residents and students have more in common than people realize.
Are there 'spoiled brats' at Lafayette? Sure -- just as there are plenty of people in the community who avoid involvement because they enjoy their privileges and don't want to be bothered, and others who work for the community because they are paid to do so. I think it is more productive to focus on those [on campus and in the community] who do care and do want to get involved.
Much has been said about Lafayette's non-profit status. Its role as an educational institution qualifies it for tax-exemption because education is in the public interest. This is not an obligation to educate you or me or to provide any direct benefits to you or me -- Lafayette obligation is to do right by their students, to provide the best education they can.That includes bringing all sorts of cultural, artistic, academic, and other programs to campus, and it is to Lafayette's credit that they make so many of these events available to community members, often at no charge or at a reduced price.
It may be worth noting that colleges are not required to do community service. [The federal work-study financial aid program has required community work, but this is the exception.] Even so, Lafayette students provide thousands of hours of community service every year [as do students at most other colleges], and I think most of this springs from the students' own interest and desire to serve. I give Lafayette credit for providing the Landis Community Outreach Center to guide and facilitate this work by making it easy for community programs and students to connect with each other.
[What is community service? For students and for other community residents, it usually means with existing community agencies and programs, although students and faculty members do sometimes create new programs where they see a need.]
There are some colleges and universities that are more engaged with the community, but there are also many that have far less community involvement. Of course, there is more that Lafayette could do, but I think they have been moving in the right direction and this has become even stronger under the leadership of President Weiss.
Peter
[For those who don't know me, I live in Bethlehem, but work with community members and students in Easton in my work with the Alliance for Sustainable Communities–Lehigh Valley www.sustainlv.org.]
Peter - Please support your comment that because an entity offers education which is "in the public interest" it therefore qualifies as a non profit. Lots of businesses are "in the public interest" but their intent is profitable. The criteria for not profit lies in predominately charitable behavior as part of every day business. Lafayette seems to justify its non profit status by virtue of its scholarships to students in need that qualify around the world. If what you are saying is true then every educational entity would be able to say they are non profit - that is not the case. Educational entities can be for profit or not for profit. The criteria is not based on acts of educating. Please support your comment if you disagree.
Service is a good thing whether its Lafayette students, EASD students, or children from Probation. Some people may disagree but most of the posts here are not about the students but about the College or the "administration" as anon 5:34 puts it.
It is stated several times here that Lafayette is a non profit corporation. Having recently incorporated a non profit I know that it is a legal step that real people take to carry out a purpose or a mission and to shield themselves personally from liability. Corporations are not moral or immoral, really they are amoral. Not for profits are suppose to have missions that might be described as moral but it really depends on how the real people carry on and out that mission. Mission "drift" or "creep" can happen over time as different people take over from the founders and the mission starts becomes about perserving the company and keeping jobs - it requires alot of moral self awareness on the part of people to stay true to a non profit mission.
I liked how Timothy Hare relates to Lafayette College. It strikes me that it is a relationship he initiated and he controls. No program needed to be developed or service provided.
Anonymous 11:55
You ask me to 'Please support your comment that because an entity offers education which is "in the public interest" it therefore qualifies as a non profit. Lots of businesses are "in the public interest" but their intent is profitable. The criteria for not profit lies in predominately charitable behavior as part of every day business.'
The answer lies in the Internal Revenue Code, which sets two main conditions for tax-exempt status: the organization must be organized so that no profits or earnings go to private individuals, and it must be organized for an eligible purpose. The Internal Revenue Code lists the 8 eligible categories: 'charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals.' [These are found in Section 501(c)(3) of the code, which explains why tax-exempt non-profits are often called by that number.]
Note that 'charitable' is only one of the eight recognized categories for tax-exempt status.
So it is not the fact that Lafayette provides scholarships that gets its tax-exempt status, it is its organization as a non-profit for educational purposes.
If a school wants to organize for profit they can do so, of course. The results may not be what the students expected or deserved -- as you may recall was the case with the so-called Lehigh Valley College a couple of years ago.
Peter
Thank you for supporting your statement, for correcting my use of the word "charitable” and for correcting what appeared to me to be your initial statement by agreeing that “education” isn’t automatically exempt and it actually isn’t even always in the public interest.
You explain that Lafayette doesn’t need to give scholarships and it doesn’t have any obligation to the community in order to have tax exemption; also, that what gives it tax exemption and the right to receive donations is based on how the money flows through it and as long as “private individuals” do not receive any of the profits.
I think the community does know that Lafayette has one of the largest endowments in the country (in the top 100) and that is especially notable because it is only an undergraduate school. It is something to be proud about coming as it did from very humble beginnings. Does some of this endowment purchase Easton real estate? Is there a plan to buy up the town? Some appear to think so and welcome it.
Through this discussion I am feeling more confident that I know who my “neighbor” is. I am still curious about “services” not meaning the volunteer students but the other services that Lafayette doesn’t need to provide but does. I wonder how that actually works out in the community.
Cathy,
Very cogent comments about "mission drift" in non-profits. I have seen this first-hand and resigned from more than one non-profit board because either no one cared to refocus or anyone trying to hold feet to the fire were forced out.
It is also interesting to note that the whole idea of private colleges vs public colleges was determined in a Supreme Court case that has had great repercussions for corporate law ever since.
Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward,(1819) was a landmark case in which the State of New Hampshire tried to revoke the charter of Dartmouth College to make it a public institution. Dartmouth was formed in 1769 - prior to the forming of the United States - by an act of the King of England, who awarded land that wasn't his to build the campus. In essence, the court found that a private contract, signed before the country existed between a private corporation (Dartmouth)and the British Crown, who we threw out of the country during the Revolution, was a valid private contract under the contracts clause of the Constitution!
All corporations - both for-profit businesses and public entities like cities, universities and transit agencies - are chartered within their states of origin. This decision basically treated these corporate entities as if they were real people under contract law. So began the erosion of state control of private corporate entities...to the point where today the private, artificially created corporation has more rights to exist than a chartered city or state government consisting of real human beings. A classic case of property (whatever it may be) bestowed upon a corporation giving that property holder more rights than you or I. It is the actual property that has the rights...once the holder gives up the property the rights go with it.
This has deep repercussions for our current system of governance that go far beyond the "missions" of places like Lafayette College.
DRL
As a student at Lafayette, I too have had my moments of wondering at its "non-profit" status. I often feel as though I am being taken advantage of, with the ridiculous meal plan options and book resale rates, for example.
I am not what most would consider to be the typical Lafayette student. By that I mean that I am not white, middle or upper class, and I come from an under-served community, to which I will return when I graduate from Lafayette.
I say that to say that there should be a differentiation made between the entity and the students, and we should not all be judged by its actions, nor by each others.
When I read discussions about the "typical Lafayette student" I feel invisible.
Anon 7:59--thanks so much for posting and opening up the conversation further--this is how we all go below the surface and begin to learn more about the complexities of any issue.
I heard there was an article in the student paper recently about the Lafayette's relationship to Easton--do you happen to have a link to it that you could post for readers here? That way, our readers here could not only get more insight into this issue, but become more familiar with other issues on Lafayette students' minds as well--I think the community might be surprised...
And Dennis I think it affects the ability of communities to revitalize.
How can I say this:
corporations (especially non profit corporations) need. And your need, as an individual, as customer or "number served" is their need. What happens if you dont need. What is your place at the table? When you help your neighbors "make chicken soup" (maybe cause you have chickens?) you are preempting the corporations ability to sell chicken soup or the non profit's ability to write a program for chicken soup making. Though community empowerment is the mission of many, the fact of it unnerves many.
As a Lafayette student, I am thrilled this discussion has come up and fascinated by how engaged the community is in the idea. "Is Lafayette College A Good Neighbor" is an incredibly interesting question, but one's response really depends on how one frames the question. For me, what it boils down to is "identity". There are a few questions that I, and many student like myself, are actively exploring. First, how does Easton describe itself? Easton is a richly diverse community with an amazing history, but perhaps lacks a sense continuity not only between its enclaves, but between the City and Lafayette. Second, does the community view Lafayette as an outsider upon a Hill, or an active member of their community that shares history and an obligation to its revitalization?
If I as a student understand my neighbors to be other students AND Easton citizens, and Easton citizen view Lafayette students as neighbors as well, I believe it creates a common ground for engagement by both parties that will enrich the lives of each other and the community. If Lafayette is perceived to be a "school on the hill", students and community members dissociate themselves from each other and their sovereign boundaries quickly motive self-interest that may not be optimal in creating a "healthy college town". If Easton is the world, than a cosmopolitan view of this world may be insightful when exploring this identity.
Also keep in mind geography. I am a double major and an athlete who can barely manage his own schedule. Its not easy to take time to venture down into Easton with poor transportation options when my academic, athletic, and social lives are so demanding. I would certainly love to spend more time in the city, but sometimes find the physical separation to be too great of a hurdle. If Lafayette invests more in buildings within the city itself, I think it would do wonders for the relationship between students and community members. When I opted to go to Lafayette, I looked forward to the urban setting it promotes to its student. I feel the College and the Community could do more to build a stronger relationship with each other, but in my opinion, it starts in finding shared interests that create incentive for cooperation and that will benefit everyone involved.
-Luke C.
Lafayette College Class of 2012
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