/ Social Change and Community Involvement//Immersion Programs

Immersion Programs

The Center for Social Change and Community Involvement’s Immersion Programming offers a variety of in-depth service-learning experiences for Lewis & Clark undergraduate students. These programs are aimed at connecting and supporting students with critical forms of community service as a catalyst for social change.

Our two signature components of the Immersion Program are the Alternative Breaks Program and the Social Change Innovation Grant:

Alternative Breaks Program

Our unique Alternative Break program utilizes a critical service-learning model built on a foundation of mutually beneficial community-campus partnerships. Alternative Break participants interrogate social injustice and pursue positive social change through a critical service learning lens by participating in projects directly supporting diverse communities. Per each trip, a team of student participants will prepare for and travel to support an immersive service project focused on a specific issue in social justice work during a semester break.

Social Change Innovation Grant

The Social Change Innovation Grant program is a signature program of our Immersion Programs pillar. Social Change Innovation Grants support Lewis & Clark College undergraduate student-initiated projects and are designed to:

Fund effective and transformative social change initiatives;
Encourage innovation and creativity to explore what is possible;
Equip communities that our students care about, both locally and globally, with the tools required to positively impact social change;
Develop and test ideas, solve problems, and create opportunities.

Made possible through the generosity of Patrick Nielson ’71 and his wife Dorris Nielson, grant recipients may receive an award up to $5,000. Five grants will be given annually to an individual or group (undergraduates only) who submits a winning proposal.

Applications will open again in spring 2023.