Bonner is a service scholarship program that supports students who are committed to community involvement. Part of a network of similar programs at 74 colleges and universities across the nation, Ripon's Bonner Program combines community service, academic study of community issues and a supportive team experience to help students develop into engaged leaders of their communities.

Being in the Bonner Program means performing at least 300 hours of service in a calendar year, completing a series of courses and attending training and team retreats.

To help make this commitment possible, Bonners receive a scholarship each year as well as access to AmeriCorps Education Awards that can be used to pay tuition, repay loans or make other education-related purchases. In addition, the resources of the national network are available to all Bonners, which includes one-of-a-kind service trips, student conferences and exceptional internship opportunities.

Applications for each year are made available in late May, with interviews typically done during summer orientation. For more information about the program, contact Deano Pape, director of the Bonner Program at Ripon.

"Our mission is our passion; which is service. We do not do service because we have to but because we want to.  Helping the world one person at a time and seeing the change in their lives is by far the best reward."

- Bonner Leaders 2006/2007

"Going forth as Bonners, bearing in mind that we are all in this together. We vow, hereinafter, that we will be leaders in our community, forming a bond through responsibility, enjoyable experiences, being educators by and through service, and contributing to the betterment and sustainability of our society one project at a time."

- Bonner Leaders 2007/2008