About Bryn Mawr

The College

Bryn Mawr College seeks to provide a rigorous education and to encourage the pursuit of knowledge as preparation for life and work. It was founded in 1885 to give women access to an education equal in quality to that available only to men at the nation's leading institutions. Today, the College includes an undergraduate liberal arts college and two co-educational graduate schools, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.

One of Bryn Mawr's greatest distinctions is its commitment to building a diverse and pluralistic community in which students learn from and are enriched by the variety of perspectives they encounter. Students experiment with creating and sustaining a self-governing society within the College, structured in part by the standards of a social and academic Honor Code, and in part by the oldest student Self-Government Association in the United States. These traditions rely on and cultivate students' capacities for mutual respect, personal integrity, service, leadership, and civic engagement. Stemming from its Quaker roots, the College has a long standing commitment to understanding the world, engaging with it, and transforming it for the better. This commitment was renewed in 2000, when the Challenge for the New Century, the blueprint for the growth and development of the College, specifically called for new efforts to engage students in real life endeavors related to their classroom learning and to prepare students to lead and serve in diverse communities.

About The Civic Engagement Office

The Civic Engagement Office (CEO), established in Fall 2004, supports Bryn Mawr's involvement in service, activism, and social advocacy. The CEO is comprised of the Community Service and Activism Program and the Praxis Program. These two programs collaborate to offer co-curricular activities and academic course work that connect students, faculty, staff, and community partners to a variety of resources, including each other. The CEO also provides opportunities for skill development and capacity building in the field of civic engagement.

The CEO takes a proactive role in preparing students to be engaged citizens, effective leaders, and advocates for social change. It provides structured opportunities to perform direct service, reflection activities for individuals and groups, and education on the political and institutional obstacles for social justice. Through our ongoing relationships with community partners and our many other resources, the Civic Engagement Office offers a multitude of opportunities for students to get involved in their community during their time at Bryn Mawr.