Santa Clara University

Becoming Alumni for Others

The Arrupe Center helps ensure that Santa Clara's mission and values statements aren't just words," Thomas Plante says. Educating the whole person; working for a humane, just world; becoming leaders of competence, conscience and compassion-the Arrupe Center was created to help SCU fulfill that promise to its students.

Plante, a professor and former chair of the psychology department and the acting director of Arrupe, notes that the center's cutting-edge programs provide a qualitative difference from traditional volunteer and service programs.Community-based learning is integrated into the curriculum, making it a core part of the SCU undergraduate experience. About 40 faculty members each quarter assign students to work with Arrupe. Almost 500 students each quarter-1,500 a year and growing-find placements within 40 Silicon Valley nonprofit organizations ranging from schools and homeless shelters to physical rehabilitation facilities, legal services clinics, and Alzheimer's community centers.There, students work directly with staff, patients, or clients in ways that relate specifically to the courses they are taking. After their experiences, every Arrupe-placed student is required to conduct an active reflection: What did I learn, how did I react, what value did this experience have in my education?

"Arrupe partners with agencies, and the benefits are shared by all," Plante says. The agencies and their clients receive focused assistance from bright, motivated students. The students learn in "real time" while they practice the Jesuit value of "faith doing justice."

Plante cites two recent examples of students who took psychology courses that included an Arrupe community based learning component:

One student entering her senior year was not sure what she wanted to do after graduation. Her Arrupe-directed work at the Julian Street Homeless Shelter in San Jose intrigued her. Many of the shelter's clients suffer from chronic mental illnesses. These individuals made such an impact on her that after graduation she accepted a job there. Her growing interest in severe mental illness led her to a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology with a specialization in chronic mental illness.

The lessons that come with an Arrupe experience can lead to other, equally important, conclusions. Another student came to her placement in a shelter for homeless adolescents convinced that this was to be her calling. She and Plante collaborated on a professional paper that she presented at an international conference.

"Imagine," Plante enthuses, "one undergraduate in a room full of practicing professionals and psychology professors. And she was terrific."

The student accepted a job at the shelter after graduation, but soon came to realize the work was not the right fit for her. Today, she works at a major computer company but stays in touch with her faculty mentor.

"In both cases, it was the opportunity to go beyond 'doing good' that helped the students choose their careers," Plante says."Community-Based learning means learning from and with the people students work with in the field. As a psychology professor, I can talk to students for weeks about schizophrenia, for example, but there's nothing like spending real time with an individual who struggles with this disability to understand its meaning and consequences."