Current students and alumni were brought together to celebrate 50 years of the Center for Public Service (CPS) here at AU last Saturday, Sept. 7 with around 100 attendees. CPS is an honors program dedicated to bridging the gap between formal education and career service by providing financial assistance to AU students to afford more experiences in their chosen fields. Whether a student attends a conference, convention, internship or more, CPS teaches skills in grant writing and student leadership while gathering members of the community united in their goal of public service.
CPS began its legacy at AU in the 1973-74 school year under the leadership of Dr. Larry Osnes. Although CPS was an idea years earlier, he was only able to fund the program after a sizable grant was given by the Lilly Endowment. Since then, hundreds of students in CPS have benefited from the generosity of CPS and have gone on to distinguished careers.
Overcoming challenges of time and distance, the CPS Gala hosted all four directors together: Dr. Larry Osnes (1973-1976), Dr. Doug Nelson (1976-2008), Dr. Joel Schrock (2008-2015), and Dr. Michael Frank (2015-current).This unique opportunity led to a panel where AU and CPS alum, President John Pistole (‘78) asked questions on public servanthood, fun stories and memories of both CPS and Vivian Barrett Coffman, who served as associate director for 17 years.
Schrock, the third director, talked of how the heart of CPS was the students’ servant leadership and faith. “The thing that I love about the center is it’s not just about what can I get for me, it’s really an attitude of, ‘what can I do to make a difference in the world around me?’” he said.
Later, when asked what made CPS fellows stand out in their community, a resounding echo agreement of ‘creative and determined’ was said, but Frank added one more key characteristic. “They have grit,” said Frank. “I think that folk have a passion that you want to pursue, and the perseverance to stay on track with that, and to do all of this CPS stuff on top of everything that you’re already doing.”
CPS Fellows, both former and current, received time to relate their time for the program, and get to know each other, generations of AU separated by time, but connected through the heart of service. Some attendees included Kathleen Buehler (‘74) and Jeanne Quam (‘74), both of whom were in the first CPS class, and Dr. Laura Stull, who is currently working as a professor of psychology at AU since 2012.
