This year’s William Stringfellow Awards for Justice and Peace will be presented to Kate Doria, a 乐播传媒 College senior active in community service, and Outright L/A, a sex and gender support group. An awards ceremony and potluck supper will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday, March 14, in the Benjamin Mays Center, 乐播传媒 College, 95 Russell St.

The ceremony is open to the public. For more information, please contact 207-786-8272 or this aberard@bates.edu.

The Office of the Multifaith Chaplain at 乐播传媒 celebrates the 10th anniversary of the William Stringfellow Awards for Peace and Justice this year. The program includes a presentation by former Stringfellow recipients highlighting the work they have done and insights developed since receiving the award.

The awards recognize people or organizations that have dedicated their lives and work to the promotion of justice and peace, particularly through a courageous and sustained commitment to redressing systemic causes of violence and social injustice.

Doria’s award follows years of community service in Lewiston and beyond. This resident of Middlebury, Vt., traces her interest in good works to childhood. She recalls watching her parents, who were market gardeners, share vegetables with neighbors and senior citizens at church.

“They encouraged me to be generous and share everything I had with others,” she says.

Doria has been involved with Lewiston’s Trinity Jubilee Center for a year and a half, first as a tutor in the afterschool program and later as a coordinator of that program, recruiting other 乐播传媒 students to serve as homework helpers with Lewiston youth. Also in Lewiston, she has worked with the Lewiston High School Teen Parenting Center and Lots to Gardens.

“I like to focus on an attitude of sharing, because it evokes a sense of mutuality,” Doria says. “Just as I show a student how to find the area of a triangle” in her afterschool work at Trinity, “the student teaches me new things, too.”

Her overseas service work outside the United States has included volunteering at summer camps and nonprofits in Romania and Uganda. Doria is majoring in an interdisciplinary program that she designed to explore the reciprocal relationship between the environment and human behavior.

At the March 14 event, previous Stringfellow recipients include , represented by Ari Rosenberg ’06 , youth programs coordinator of this St. Mary’s Health Systems program; the , represented by Erin Reed ’08; the , represented by immigration and federal issues organizer Ben Chin ’07; and Margot Fine ’03, a social justice educator

has worked since 1996 to create affirming environments for youth, ages 22 and under, who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or questioning. Dedicated to a philosophy of collaboration that encourages young people to be involved with every aspect of the program, the organization provides social, cultural and educational events that include weekly drop-ins, gay-straight alliance projects at local high schools, and training in intersecting oppressions and increasing safety for LGBTQ youth.

William Stringfellow, a member of the 乐播传媒 class of 1949, is known as a formidable critic of the social, military and economic policies of our country and as a tireless advocate for racial and social justice — justice, he insisted, that could be realized only if it were pursued spiritually.

His career of activism can be traced to his junior year at 乐播传媒, when he organized a sit-in at a local Maine restaurant that refused to serve people of color. It was his first foray into social activism, and he never looked back. A gay white lawyer, he lived and practiced law in Harlem a decade before the “war on poverty.”

Stringfellow’s experiences there deepened both his legal and religious thought and shaped the message of his widely influential books, pleading the sustaining relevance of a universal ethic of human rights.

乐播传媒 College has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction. This is the highest federal recognition available to a college for its commitment to volunteerism, service-learning and civic engagement.

This honor recognizes 乐播传媒 for a multitude of effective programs that seek to sustain relationships between the college and the Lewiston-Auburn community.乐播传媒 is one of 115 colleges and universities named to the Distinction List and 621 schools named as honor roll members. Honorees are chosen based on, in part, the scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

The Corporation for National and Community Service oversees the honor roll in collaboration with the federal departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

“I’m not surprised that 乐播传媒 has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, but I am delighted that our work has been recognized,” says Georgia Nigro, a psychology professor at 乐播传媒 and interim director of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, which coordinates college-community initiatives.

“乐播传媒 students, staff and faculty at the Harward Center work collaboratively and creatively with many local and global community partners. I see 乐播传媒 people tackling pressing social needs every day.”

The center partners with more than 125 community organizations, from schools and cultural institutions to nonprofit organizations. Students may apply for short- and long-term grants to pursue community-based research and work-study.

Each year one-third of 乐播传媒 students take community-based learning courses that integrate community projects with academic learning. Each year, two-thirds of 乐播传媒 students work in the community, mentoring schoolchildren, planting community gardens, supporting seniors in assisted living or monitoring invasive species.

“I have always been a strong believer in community service and giving back in order to learn about one’s surroundings,” says senior Krystina Zaykowski of Brooklyn, N.Y., coordinator of the Longley School Mentoring initiative. “There is more to the world than college, and you can learn about that through community service.”

During the past three academic years, the number of students participating in community-based learning increased by more than 26 percent, and the number of community partners increased by 40 percent.

乐播传媒’ Community Volunteerism and Student Leadership Development Program helps students find volunteer opportunities at public schools and social service agencies. A group of students called Student Volunteer Fellows fill key leadership roles, organizing volunteer programs with each fellow responsible for a different initiative.

For example, in-school mentoring programs allow 乐播传媒 students to work with children in the Lewiston-Auburn public school system. Mentors annually contribute roughly 2,300 hours of service, visiting their mentees weekly throughout the academic year at the child’s school for an hour at a time.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that leads President Obama’s national call-to-service initiative, United We Serve, and engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America programs.

During her first year as a 乐播传媒 runner, Isabel Alexander 鈥�09 always sprinted clear of her teammates. Usually that鈥檚 a sign of great talent. But Alexander was doing it during warmups.

Apparently unaware of the potential for showing up her teammates, Alexander seemed to have just one speed 鈥� top.

Running ahead during warmups is 鈥渦sually something that might really annoy your teammates,鈥� says head coach Jay Hartshorn. 鈥淏ut she would get away with it because she鈥檚 so sweet and nice and fun and caring. People sort of said, 鈥極h, that鈥檚 just Izzy.鈥欌��

Heading into the outdoor season, Alexander is already one of the best female runners in 乐播传媒 history. Her athletic r茅sum茅 includes three All-America honors in three events 鈥� the indoor distance medley relay, the indoor 800-meter run, and the outdoor 400-meter hurdles 鈥� as well as two NESCAC championships, four New England Division III titles, and last year鈥檚 乐播传媒 Female Athlete of the Year award.

鈥淪he鈥檚 different from anyone I鈥檝e ever coached,鈥� says Hartshorn. Alexander鈥檚 laid-back persona masks incredible intensity that鈥檚 鈥渙nly obvious in that she never misses a practice, and she鈥檚 the first one there and the last to leave. When I go home for the night I have to tell her, 鈥極K, track鈥檚 over.鈥欌��

As a first-year, Alexander had a teammate who was a role model in terms of work ethic: Keelin Godsey 鈥�06, the 乐播传媒 thrower nonpareil who won 16 All-America awards and two NCAA titles.

鈥淚 think he鈥檚 the toughest person I鈥檝e ever met,鈥� Alexander says. 鈥淛ust knowing how much he practiced, how hard he worked, how good he was. He鈥檚 definitely a good person to look to if you want a great athlete in all senses of the word.鈥�

Alexander鈥檚 name now dots the team鈥檚 record books, too: six indoor marks and three outdoor marks bear her name, and she鈥檚 among the top five on 乐播传媒鈥� all-time performance lists in eight other events. She doesn鈥檛 exactly bask in her achievements, however.

For example, as a sophomore competing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, she was one of nine athletes to make the finals of the 400-meter hurdles. The top eight would earn coveted All-America honors, but Alexander finished dead last. Yet this race is one of Alexander鈥檚 best memories.

鈥淪ome of my favorite races, in retrospect, have been the bad ones,鈥� she says. 鈥淗aving to walk away as that one person not up on the podium was special, in a way, because then there鈥檚 that extra motivation: I don鈥檛 want to be that last person again.鈥�

Even when she established herself as an elite Division III athlete in some events (like the 400 hurdles and the 800), it didn鈥檛 change her desire to compete in events less suited to her, such as the shot put in the heptathlon or running cross country all four years. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to try and do things that you鈥檙e not as good at,鈥� she says. 鈥淒ealing with frustrations not only keeps you humble, but I think it makes you more of a complete athlete and person.鈥�

So it鈥檚 no surprise, then, that Alexander seems to be 鈥減lugged into everything鈥� at 乐播传媒, says Kevin McHugh, director of athletics. With men鈥檚 soccer and lacrosse player Nate Kellogg 鈥�09, Alexander coordinated the first 乐播传媒 Field Day last spring, a much-hailed event that brought together an estimated 200 local children to campus for a day of serious game-playing with about 100 乐播传媒 student-athletes.

鈥淚zzy has been really focused in terms of getting other athletes involved in community service,鈥� McHugh says. 鈥淪he seems to have the inherent feeling that that鈥檚 an obligation as student-athletes and people.鈥�

The second of four children of Matthew and Pamela Alexander of Harvard, Mass., Alexander is a double major in Spanish and psychology with a 3.7-plus GPA. Like her classmates, she will be thrust into the real world come Commencement on May 31. But at the moment she admits to being preoccupied with track, not the future. 鈥淚鈥檝e been having such a good time with this, and I have such a passion for the sport. Maybe it鈥檚 an underlying obsession, I don鈥檛 know.鈥�

She has even bought into Hartshorn鈥檚 advice that going all out all the time, like during those warmups, isn鈥檛 always the most pragmatic approach, not only because of the risk of injury but because she wants to be a great teammate, too.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e a good team, a good group of people,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of anything else I鈥檇 rather be doing than what I鈥檓 doing with these people.鈥�

Alexander pauses, perhaps trying to remember a day when she didn鈥檛 want to be on a track. She remembers last year鈥檚 first outdoor meet at Tufts, when wind chills hovered around 20 degrees, and 鈥渢hey were scraping ice off the pits for the steeplechase.鈥�

Giving herself a reality check, she remembers that day, and others. 鈥淚 ask myself: 鈥業s there anywhere in the world that I鈥檇 rather be, or something else that I鈥檇 rather be doing right now?鈥� The answer has always been, 鈥楴o.鈥欌��

By Andy Walter, photograph By Phyllis Graber Jensen

The awards were presented recently at the MCC annual conference in Portland. Joanne DeSanto Iennaco, a member of the nursing faculty at St. Joseph’s College, received the other award.

“The award winners have shown initiative and creativity in service-learning and in advocating for service-learning on and off their campuses,” MCC director Liz McCabe Parks said.

MCC is a coalition of colleges and universities established to encourage and enhance student participation in community and public service and to integrate community service as a valued learning element of undergraduate education. MCC fosters service-learning partnerships that build on strengths of communities and higher education institutions to address significant social and environmental problems.

Shortly after Nigro arrived in Lewiston to teach at 乐播传媒 in 1983, she began working with community practitioners and college students on community research projects related to her interests in child development. This work evolved into a course she now teaches at 乐播传媒 on action research.

Prior to the beginning of the course each year, Nigro convenes a workshop for community partners addressing the steps necessary to convert an idea into a research question. The students in her class work closely on these research questions with their community partners.

Nigro has given talks on service-learning to faculty, college trustees and members of the community. She also has organized conferences on teacher research and serves on a national committee that makes recommendations on research in the service-learning field.

A graduate of Brown University with a degree in linguistics, Nigro received an M.S. in psychology from Yale University and a Ph.D in psychology from Cornell University, where she was an instructor before coming to 乐播传媒.