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Simpson College (simpson.edu) today announced the college’s winners of the 2020 Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact Presidents’ Engaged Campus Awards. This year’s awards included more than 100 honorees selected by 38 college and university presidents in Iowa and Minnesota. Awardees were selected for their role as student leaders, civic leaders, and community-campus partners. Simpson College recognized awardees in four selective categories: Emerging Innovation, Community Collaboration, Alumni Leadership and Civic-Minded Employer.
“Simpson College is committed to preparing our students for global and local leadership through a broad liberal arts education, experiential and service learning and civic engagement,” said Bob Lane, interim president of Simpson College. “We are excited that Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact is recognizing the amazing service of the award winners that continues to benefit the Greater Des Moines community in an effort to create high-impact educational experiences for our students,” said Lane.
Simpson College Awardees:
- Student Leadership: Amanda Stadtlander, Simpson College student
Stadtlander embodies the characteristics of a servant leader through her deep and ongoing commitment to community engagement at Simpson College. In her role as Rotaract President, she focuses on growing the on-campus service club and evaluating service projects to ensure they are mutually beneficial for all involved. Additionally, she has served in a leadership role for the college’s Wesley Service Scholar program, growing participation to 120 students in Spring 2020. - Community Partner: Sue Wilson ’01, The Helping Hand of Warren County
Wilson ’01 is the executive director of The Helping Hand of Warren County, a volunteer organization that provides food, clothing and household furnishings to Warren County residents at no cost. Simpson College and The Helping Hand work together to provide a robust partnership to benefit residents of Warren County. Not only are Simpson students eligible to use the organization’s services, many serve regularly through IT and food recovery support. - Civic Engagement Leadership Award: Dr. Heidi Levine, Vice President of Student Development
Levine brings more than 30 years of experience as a student affairs professional and educator to her leadership of Simpson College’s student life programs and services. She is passionate about student engagement and inclusion, as well as her belief in the transformative power of the out-of-class learning which occurs from campus involvement. Most recently, Levine led the launch of the Simpson College Dialogue program with the goal of teaching dialogue across differences. - Civic-Minded Employer Award: Foster Group
Foster Group, led by CEO Buck Olsen ’00, is committed to making an impact on the communities in which it serves. Since 1989, the team at Foster Group has been committed to helping communities feel Truly Cared For®. Foster Group is dedicated to spanning the ownership during three generations of employees to help ensure relationship continuity.
“This year is a particularly important time to recognize the amazing collaborations happening between communities and campuses,” said Emily Shields, Executive Director of the Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact (IAMNCC). “The current crisis makes the important public role of colleges and universities even more evident and these examples demonstrate what’s possible.”
Awards events to be held in April and May had to be canceled due to COVID-19. Online recognition will occur from April 17 to May 5 and will include video messages for and by awardees, virtual message boards, pictures and descriptions of awardees. These will be shared on the Simpson College website and social media.
About Simpson College
Simpson College is a private, liberal arts college located in Iowa with campuses in Indianola, West Des Moines and online. Founded in 1860, the college has approximately 1,300 full-time undergraduate students and approximately 400 part-time students. Simpson offers more than 80 majors, minors and programs in addition to three graduate programs. Outside of the classroom, Simpson is a member of the NCAA Division III American Rivers Conference, hosts eight Greek houses on campus and sponsors many extracurricular options for student involvement.