Lawrason and Klein win Campus Compact Awards

Two of Delta College's professors of political science, Associate Professor Lisa Lawrason and Assistant Professor Kim Klein are winners of the Campus Compact Award. Both were designated by peers as the faculty/staff persons on campus who have made the most outstanding contributions in service-learning and community service. The award recognized their influence on and the engagement of students to be involved in community service or service-learning through modeling, influencing or instruction.

“The heartbeat behind this award is a passion that Kim (Klein) and I have for empowering students to affect positive change on issues that impact their lives,” Lawrason said. “We believe this is what democracy needs to be; healthy and vibrant.”

Lawrason believes citizenship is a vital component in shaping people in the next generation.

“If young people today don't assume the mantle of citizenship, it's daunting to think what the future holds for them,” she said.

Among the events for engaging students are the “We've All Got Issues” campaign, which occurred last spring. This event featured students on campus voting on what issues they wanted their lawmakers to prioritize.

“In one instance they took those votes down to Lansing and had a meeting with the lawmakers and brought these issues to their attention,” Lawrason said. “They asked the lawmakers how they were addressing the issues that Delta students had identified.”

Last fall there was a “Pizza and Politics” event held on campus where students were able to ask state lawmakers any questions they wanted while the college supplied pizza.

“Students were invited to come and speak to the lawmakers about any issues that were on their minds,” she said. “They also shared the tally of the “We've All Got Issues” campaign at the ‘Pizza and Politics’ event.”

A voter registration drive in 2012 and soapbox drive were others ideas.

“The voter registration drive was when students registered other students to vote. It was really big; we had over 500 students registered,” she said. “Students could step up to the microphone (in the soapbox drive) and speak about any issue that they are passionate about in the world today that would make their blood boil.”123