The Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility - (610) 690-5742

The Lang Center facilitates the College's commitment to civic engagement, social responsibility, and social justice.

Welcome to the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility at Swarthmore College!
I am delighted to introduce you to the Eugene M. Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility on behalf of our staff. The Lang Center is supported by an endowment created in 2001 by Eugene Lang ’38, reflecting his vision of a Swarthmore education as preparation for lifelong leadership in civic engagement and positive social change.
To students, we hope you will consider joining some of the volunteer efforts, using our library, attending speaking events and workshops, joining with other students in addressing issues of concern to you, finding funding, and applying for jobs here such as the Lang Center Interns – and just hanging out to study or visit with like-minded students and others. This letter is a brief summary of the opportunities that are available to students at the Lang Center...but there is so much more!
To faculty and staff, we hope you will take advantage of the space at the Lang Center for meetings, classes, and conferences, the funding that is available for developing curriculum and for supporting social action projects, the advising and assistance of the Lang Center staff as you connect with communities outside the college, and the opportunities to bring a Lang Visiting Professor for Issues of Social Change to campus.
Need Advice or Assistance?
Lang Center staff members are available to students, staff and faculty to discuss ideas and steps for any area of social responsibility or civic involvement in which they’d like to engage. The Lang Center has been entrusted with providing “vision, leadership and support for the College’s central commitment to educate students for civic and social responsibility,” and to do so in a context of academic excellence. The Lang Center staff works closely with student community service and activist groups, as well as with individual students interested in social action projects or in volunteering. We work with faculty to develop courses that employ Community-Based Learning (CBL). To help prepare Swarthmore students for service, activism and leadership, the Lang Center also periodically sponsors workshops and other training opportunities. Recent examples include Campus Camp Wellstone Grassroots Training, Organizing Skills Institute, Debating for Democracy, and Effective Grantsmanship Workshop Series.
Need Employment?
Students looking for employment opportunities are encouraged to become van certified. Paid positions as van drivers are available at the Lang Center on a regular basis. (The Lang Center provides a weekday afternoon shuttle for students serving organizations and programs of social justice in Chester City, a mere 3 1/2 miles away). To be eligible for van certification and a part-time position as a Lang Center driver, bring your state-issued driver’s license to campus, and email Deb Kardon-Brown at dkardon1@swarthmore.edu for more information. Periodically, other jobs come available at the Lang Center. Job descriptions and openings can be viewed at Employment @ Lang Center.

Want to Volunteer?
There is no shortage of great volunteer opportunities awaiting students on campus and beyond. Student-led community service, activist and political groups -- and other programs such as Blueprint, Chester Community Garden Project, Dare 2 Soar, Global Neighbours, Rotaract, Saturdays of Service, and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) -- need you! Come visit the Lang Center front desk to view the Volunteer Notebook which lists additional upcoming volunteer opportunities in the U.S. and abroad. Check out the Lang Center website and click the “Volunteer” link for a comprehensive list of volunteer opportunities available to students.
Need Funding?
The Lang Center administers a variety of grant opportunities. If you have an idea for a social action project or want to find out what kinds of projects Swarthmore students and faculty have been involved with in the past, we can help. We are here to help you put your ideas into action!
Swarthmore Foundation
Students may join others’ social action projects, create their own projects with support from the Lang Center, and may apply for funding from the Swarthmore Foundation. The Swarthmore Foundation Committee, whose members include students, faculty and staff, accepts grant applications to support fall, winter, and spring break service projects. Any member of the Swarthmore College campus community may apply.
Summer Social Action Awards (S2A2)
The Swarthmore Foundation administers Summer Social Action Awards (S2A2). S2A2 provide stipends for students to work in nonprofit and other public service organizations for ten weeks.
Chester Community Fellows (CCF)
The Swarthmore Foundation also administers Chester Community Fellows (CCF). CCF is a 10-week paid internship program for students who are committed to public service, community building and social change. This experience is designed to give the Fellows a closer look at the city of Chester, its residents, and how the organizations that serve them organize and work together.
Lang Opportunity Scholarship Program
Early in the fall of Swarthmore students’ sophomore year, students have the opportunity to apply for the Lang Opportunity Scholarship Program, which was endowed by Eugene M. Lang ‘38. The Lang Opportunity Scholarship Program is a powerful opportunity to link scholarship with social action. It is grounded in the vision that students with a demonstrated commitment to social justice can and should be challenged to design and implement effective, innovative solutions to significant social problems. The Lang Opportunity Scholarship Program is a unique scholarship program that includes support, guidance and resources; a paid summer internship during the summer after your sophomore year; additional financial resources, including a chance to qualify for a grant of up to $10,000 to carry out an innovative, responsive and sustainable Lang Opportunity Project; educational enhancement funds of up to $1500 to support personal development and skill building

toward implementation of a Lang Opportunity Project; Lang Opportunity Scholarships cover the work-study portion of each Scholar’s financial aid award—not covered by other sources—starting second semester of your sophomore year; and a graduate fellowship. Interested? If so, you are encouraged to attend information sessions about the Lang Opportunity Scholarship or contact the Lang Scholar Advisor, Jennifer Magee (jmagee1) for more information.
Project Pericles Fund of Swarthmore College
Eugene M. Lang ‘38 and the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College created the Project Pericles Fund in 2005, whose purpose is to support student groups who propose and implement projects whose major purpose is to effect civic or social change through advocacy, activism and direct service whether regionally, nationally, or internationally. These grants most recently supported Chester Youth Court Volunteers, Global Health Forum, Global Neighbours and Taller de Paz.
On behalf of the Lang Center staff, I invite you to join in the exciting work that the Lang Center facilitates. We are located at 3-5 Whittier Place (adjacent to the Dupont Parking area). Our doors are open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. with staff, and Sunday through Thursday evening hours until midnight with the presence of students serving as “building hosts.” Additional hours, and specific rooms in the building, are available by appointment and with reservations made by Delores Robinson at drobins2@swarthmore.edu. We look forward to meeting you!
Sincerely,
Joy Charlton
Executive Director, Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology Swarthmore College


Tags: