16 PU students chosen for leadership program

   Princeton University’s Pace Center for Community Service is revitalizing and expanding its two-year-old Bonner Leaders Program with the selection of 16 new students.
   The students make a commitment to perform 300 hours of community service at such places as Princeton High School, Princeton Young Achievers, The Medical Center at Princeton, the Princeton YWCA and the Rescue Mission of Trenton.
   The program, run in collaboration with the Bonner Foundation and AmeriCorps, is in place at more than 50 colleges and universities nationwide. The program has existed at Princeton on a smaller scale. Now the Pace Center hopes to attract more students, said Heather Camp, the program coordinator.
   The new members are 13 freshmen and three juniors.
   "It is our hope that the freshmen participating this year will continue with the Bonner Leaders Program and become Princeton’s future leaders in community engagement," Ms. Camp said.
   The program evaluates students based on their past commitment to community service. Students are paid with funds from federal work-study grants, AmeriCorps education awards and stipends. Plans call for between 10 and 15 additional students to be added to Princeton’s program each year.
   "We are so pleased to expand the Bonner Leaders Program at Princeton because we feel that the program’s commitments to social justice, civic engagement, spiritual exploration, diversity, global perspectives and community building are beautifully matched to our students’ service goals," said Sasa Montano, director of the Pace Center.
   "Building on those commitments, the Bonner Leaders work on improving educational opportunities and fighting hunger through community programs that focus on literacy issues, mentoring and nutrition/anti-hunger initiatives," said Wayne Meisel, president of the Bonner Foundation.
   The freshmen are Perla Amsili, Lileana Blain-Cruz, Erin Blake, Adam Burgoyne, Felicia Chiu, Page Dykstra, Anastasia Frank, Crystel Harris, Marie Mercier, Katherine Rodbro, Brady Walkinshaw, Wendy Xy and Xian Zeng. The juniors are Cynthia Casazza, Joseph Robinson and Allen Sista.