Award recipient shares community service experiences

By Ali Pavlicek
Western Herald

Dennis

Tony Dennis lives his life with community service as a prime focus for himself, his family, and even for his job here at WMU.

As the director of recruitment and retention for the graduate college, Dennis received the Michigan Campus Compact Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award on Feb. 12.  He had been nominated for the award by WMU’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Timothy Greene.

However, Dennis doesn’t view the award as a completely personal achievement; he credits all of the people who he comes into contact with, especially his influences at the university.
“Whatever success I have is really not mine, it’s all of ours,” Dennis said.  “I was humbled by the award and honored.”

Dennis’s role on campus involves working with the faculty in recruiting master’s and doctoral students, while working closely with the students to assist them with their undergraduate development to bridge the gap in preparing them for graduate school.  His effectiveness in motivating students is where his passion truly lies, since he has spoken at schools, churches and community centers in order to inspire students to succeed.

“It is a passion of mine because in order to get students prepared for college, that’s where we have to start,” Dennis said.  “We should deal with the community piece first, and the schools will improve.  Children are very bright, but we need to make sure that it is all channeled in the right direction.”

In particular, Dennis chaired the Martin Luther King, Jr. program here at WMU this year, where over 500 people attended the event held at the Bernhard Center.

Other areas of service include Dennis’s involvement with the Organization of Black Airline Pilots as its higher education liaison.  Prior to working at WMU, Dennis had worked in the aviation field for six years, and with the Organization of Black Airline Pilots, he has contributed to their efforts of establishing three centers of excellence in the U.S., where areas of impoverished children can receive mentoring from role models.

With the graduate college, Dennis has brought in diverse groups of scholars to address graduate students, but he goes beyond the target audience and invites high school students to come and listen, too.  He hopes that the high school students will see role models of a similar background who are at the top of their field.  Ultimately, Dennis wants to make sure that young people can handle the challenges ahead of them.

Dennis sees the importance in influencing young people because he has witnessed how it can help them succeed first hand.

“I’ve had good mentors in my life,” Dennis said.  “[In college,] a program in my fraternity assigned me a Little Brother.  I’ve been doing community service since high school, but it’s meant more to me as I got older.  Every time I do it, it means more and more.”

The feeling that one experiences when giving back to the community is something that Dennis wants to share with the students here at WMU, since he stated that 50 percent of learning is done outside of the classroom, engaging with others.

“Service is about changing lives and making a difference but also about students’ development because you learn about yourself, as well,” Dennis said.

Time management may be an issue when trying to fit in time for community service, yet Dennis believes that with all of the opportunities available to WMU students, the resources are plentiful enough to make a lasting commitment.  He mentioned several agencies that come to campus to recruit students for tutoring, working at organizations and churches, mentoring, or even joining Americorps.

“Can you imagine what could happen on the WMU campus and in the Kalamazoo community if every student was engaged in service-learning?” Dennis asked.  “It’s important that we are a school of service.”

The Michigan Campus Compact, the organization that presented Dennis with his award, focuses on service and ways to improve service at universities across the state of Michigan.  Dennis was presented his award at an MCC awards banquet in Grand Rapids that also functioned as a conference on service learning opportunities.

“I think it’s good that [the Michigan Campus Compact] recognizes service,” Dennis said.  “Service is from the heart, and it’s not about pay.  Sometimes it’s taken for granted.  I’m thrilled that they are recognizing faculty, staff, and students who are working and serving.”

In receiving the service-learning award, Dennis wanted to thank his family; his wife Betty Dennis, who is the associate dean of extended university programs; the provost; the university president; and most importantly, the students.  He said that he even has students come to his house for dinner with himself, his wife, and his children.

“We’ve always understood that commitment to service as a family, and I give a lot of credit to [my wife],” Dennis said.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Mar 8 2009. Filed under Campus, Local, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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