The Johnson Student Union looks a little different this year. Where the Center for Vocational Reflection and the Linner Lounge once stood now stands a new office, the Center for Servant Leadership (CSL). Last year the Lily Grant, which kept the Center for Vocational Reflection running, ran out, giving the initial push to combine offices to keep its services available to students.

Eventually the Center for Vocational Reflection, the Community Service Center, the Office of Church Relations and the Career Center were all merged into the new Center for Servant Leadership. This wasn’t simply an attempt to save space; the decision was made because the four offices had collaborated and intermingled throughout their existence.

“At that point it made sense to put those four offices together,” Director Jeff Stocco said.
The office’s mission statement is to “cultivate capacity for the alignment of inner and outer life that is oriented toward mutual investment with others, and rooted in a critically-reflective liberal arts understanding of faith, vocation and service.”

Along with the creation of the Center for Servant Leadership, the Servant Leadership Program has been reformed and will serve as the flagship for the new office.

The Servant Leadership Program is focused on developing servant leadership in students through community service and self-discovery as they participate in group reflections. Students start as an apprentice and work their way up to ambassador and then partner. For their participation students will be given stipends ranging from $400 to $800. The goal of this program is to have a positive impact, not only on the Gustavus community but on the St. Peter community as well, while developing the participants to be exceptional people, outstanding leaders, and dedicated students in the process.

“We shouldn’t be afraid of asking student those [life defining] questions,” Stocco said. “We are here to help students find out who they are and where they fit in this world.” This was a defining idea kept in mind as the Center for Servant Leadership came into existence.

“After all,” Director for Vocation and Integrative Learning Chris Johnson said in the Center’s newsletter, “the college years—and one’s whole life, for that matter—aren’t about just going through the motions, faster and faster, scrambling after ‘more.’ They’re about living deeply a life of meaning, passion and purpose, a life of courageous integrity and authentic connection, a life that makes a positive difference for those around you.”

The Center for Servant Leadership, with its new combined services, can work on church relations in St. Peter, while at the same time working to find student employment opportunities, eliminating some tedious back and forth office interactions. At the same time the Center for Servant Leadership doesn’t want students to forget about the individual offices that make it up. It’s not necessary to work with the Church Relations and Community Engagement office if all you want to do is look into career development. There’s a spacious lounge area right inside the Center for Servant Leadership, and there is a new Linner Lounge right across the hall.

There will be an open house for the CSL at 10:30 on Thursday, Sept. 29.