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Students are provided the opportunity to become positive change agents by participating in civic engagement projects on important domestic and international issues. They learn about the issue by interacting with national and local community leaders and participate in a direct service and/or advocacy project. Students can choose to join a TWC-guided project, or design their own individual project. 

Recent projects have included:

Animal Welfare

Interact with speakers from the Humane Society of the United States, the country’s leading advocacy group committed to animal protection, and learn how they can influence public policy. Also, hear from community educators who teach about respecting and caring for animals and from groups that rescue, foster and re-home homeless animals. Students volunteer at pet adoption events and participate in a group clean-up project at a local dog park, where they learn how dog parks benefit dogs, their owners and the community.

Domestic Violence

This project partners with the National Network to End Domestic Violence, which lobbies for legislation and funding for state organizations to support domestic violence victims. Students advocate on Capitol Hill to reauthorize the Violence against Women Act (VAWA) and create reports on Domestic Violence Homicides in their own states. They also work with Becky’s Fund, a local anti-domestic violence group, on a research project about campus safety and dating violence. International students prepare presentations on domestic and sexual violence in their countries.

Homelessness Action Group

This is a Direct Service and Advocacy Project that partners with So Others Might Eat (SOME), a 40-year old social service agency, the National Coalition for the Homeless, Samaritan Inns, and the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project. Students learn about homelessness in the Greater Metropolitan Washington Area and interact directly with the homeless, formerly homeless and homeless advocates. Participants volunteer with SOME in the dining room and clothing distribution center, cook dinner for residents at Samaritan Inns, or tutor homeless children. They attend an Advocacy Workshop on hate crimes against the homeless and take action to combat these attacks.

Immigrant Rights

Students learn about the history of immigration in the United States, the immigration policy debate and issues facing Latino, Asian, African and Middle Eastern immigrants. Direct Service opportunities include tutoring Latino children at the bilingual school CentroNia, helping Spanish-speaking domestic violence victims to obtain special visas through Mil Mujeres (“1000 women” in Spanish), tutoring African immigrants at the Ethiopian Community Center, and processing deferred deportation applications for young undocumented immigrants at Casa de Maryland.

LGBT Project

The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) project explores issues around LGBT identity, history and culture. Students are exposed to national advocacy organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and tour Washington, D.C. neighborhoods that have played an important role in the community’s history. Community leaders engage participants in becoming advocates and change agents. Students can participate in community events and service opportunities that impact LGBT health issues and current legislation.

Local Green Project

Students learn about and engage with local environmental issues such as sustainable development, clean water, urban farming, carbon foot printing, and renewable energies through tending urban farms and planting wetbeds. They learn about local food sourcing by interacting with one of the country’s premier chefs and touring Farmers' Markets. Students volunteer with the Watkins Elementary School Urban Gardens program, the Lands and Waters Environmental Education program, and the Anacostia Watershed Society, which helps to restore and protect the Anacostia River.

Torture Abolition

This is an advocacy project in partnership with the Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition (TASSC), an organization founded by and for torture survivors. Students interact directly with survivors, mainly from Africa, who have been tortured and imprisoned by their own governments. Project participants team-up with survivors to visit congressional offices where they support legislation that benefits survivors in the U.S. and abroad, and advocate for an end to torture worldwide.

Veterans

Students are exposed to multiple issues of concern to veterans including health care, homelessness, education and employment. The group partners with Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB), which helps veterans reintegrate into society through physical exercise and social activities. Students participate in races and other activities with veterans. Speakers have included representatives from Team RWB, the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Student Veterans of America, Paralyzed Veterans of America, the U.S. Department of Interior, and a shelter for homeless female veterans.

Read about recent civic engagement projects

Additional Resources

• Roundtable on Civil Society & Social Responsibility
• Public Policy Dialogues on Capitol Hill