Students give back to community as part of Signature Series

During the last year, 2,400 Bellevue University students have volunteered for more than 19,000 hours of community service – all as part of the Kirkpatrick Signature Series, a senior-level cluster of courses required for every Bellevue University undergraduate student.

Bellevue University began requiring the Kirkpatrick Signature Series in 1997 in an attempt to provide all students a shared foundational knowledge of Western culture, history, vision and values. Most Americans today possess only a passing knowledge of this material, and it often is learned in middle or high school – then forgotten. The Kirkpatrick Signature Series consists of three courses: American Vision and Values; Tradition and Change; and Freedom and Responsibility. Students study the writings of, among others, C.S. Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, Alexis de Tocqueville and Aristotle.

And they give back to the community. Built into the Signature Series is a requirement that all students volunteer for at least eight hours of community service. This summer, Signature Series students volunteered for a wide variety of organizations, including the Autism Center of Nebraska; Girls, Inc.; Relay for Life; the Salvation Army; and Camp Fire USA.

“The civic involvement aspect of the Signature Series fits perfectly with its overall mission,” said Bellevue University Associate Professor Ed Rauchut,  the Grewcock Chair for American Vision and Values, “which is to ensure that our graduates are not only educated for a quality life and productive work, but for involved citizenship, as well.”