Listening to Leaders: The Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Award
The Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Awards recognize one graduating senior, one faculty member, and one community partner for their commitment to the ideals of service‐learning.
Betsy Alden (third from left) poses with award recipients Frances Beroset (Education Major, T’19) Duke BME faculty member Kevin Caves, and community partner Jeanette Stokes (on far right) from Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South.
Betsy Alden '64, Duke's First Service-Learning Coordinator
For Betsy Alden, service-learning is ultimately about building more humane relationships and is linked to a deeper spiritual sense of vocation. The magic of her work with students, faculty, and community partners lies in her ability to connect people both to one another and to the deeper ideals of reciprocity, partnership, and a sustained commitment to the community.
Referred to as one of the “founding mothers” of the service-learning movement at Duke, Betsy Alden began combining learning and service in the 1980's. Since then, she has done it all: created and taught service‐learning courses; forged community partnerships; recruited, inspired, and mentored faculty and students; developed and administered campus service‐learning programs; and championed service‐learning through publications, lectures, workshops, and service on national boards. In the ten years Betsy led the service‐learning movement at Duke, service-learning evolved from an obscure pedagogy used by a handful of faculty to a vibrant cross‐disciplinary practice.
