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September 26, 2003
Introduction to civic honors
“The idea of civic honors is for the community to be able to acknowledge those individuals who are active participants within the community.”
The design of the Civic honors program is to be implemented by a university to bridge academia and involvement in community. The implementation of this idea will involve connecting education to society, first at the university level, then by replication of the program. The positive message is that it is not only possible to spread change within the community but is designed to become a part of the very fabric of the community. Sounding the call for individuals to play a larger roll in fulfilling the needs of the community by finding organizations that they not only feel benefit the community but organizations with which they want to work with. The program will begin by the college providing the opportunity for individuals to not only volunteer within the community but also have the ability to provide an accurate list of opportunities that will allow individuals to find opportunities that resonate with them.
Civic honors has been written to provide a platform for the message about the opportunities to work with the community. The first step is speaking to individuals, organizations, and universities that have the potential to become a vibrant part of the civic honors program. Hopefully, the message about what is possible within the community and how to use technology to bring people together becomes the message from the discussion of civic honors. That message is what designing a civic honors program is all about. Replication is imperative for success. That said, it is not just a program at one university in one community it is something that can expand beyond one community and to society in general. Being aware that resistance to change might occur from changes in the traditional ways individuals become involved in the community.[i] It is not often that individuals within society are introduced to a combination of civic participation with an inherent sense of civility. To work within the community without regard for politics but for the benefit of the society letting the civility or the virtue of citizens enhance society.[ii] Allowing citizens to develop a strong sense of community while empowering them to feel that action is possible creates a model of proactive behavior that enhances volunteering within the community.[iii]
While reading a about the civic honors program references will be made to the university as the principle source for implementing and designing the civic honors program. It is possible for any college to implement and design the program the discussion of universities being the instrument for change does not mean that universities are the only organizations within the community that could develop the civic honors program. Therefore it is ok to make the assumption that university also could be taken as a reference to organizations in general. The positive nature of the message that the civic honors program is attempting to spread does not exclude any actor or organizations from participation. That is the basic assumption that will allow community building in any community developing a stronger society as a whole. The discussion of civic society is not based on the assumption that civil society is linked to democratization. The assumption being made in relation to civic society is that organizations within the community are capable of broadening the concept of civil society in a way that can really benefit the community.[iv]
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[i] David Osborne and Ted Gaebler. 1992. Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Pages 1-24.
[ii] Leroy S. Rouner. 2000. Civility. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press. Pages 25-36.
[iii] Margaret Bell. 1999. Civic Society at the Millennium. Article: Volunteering: Underpinning Social Action in the Civil Society for the New Millennium. West Hartford, Connecticut: Kumarian Press. Pages 27-42.
[iv] Kimberly Stanton. 1999. The Revival of Civil Society: Global and Comparative Perspectives. Article: Promoting Civil Society: Reflections on Concepts and Practice. New York, New York: St. Martin’s Press. Edited by Michael G. Schechter. Pages 243-252.
678 words posted by nels lindahl at 12:27 AM
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