History
Fresno
State students work on a trail building
project with community partner
Sierra Foothill Conservancy.
Fresno State has a rich history of incorporating community
engagement into the academic experiences of our students. The
Richter Center is a key organization in helping to sustain this
practice. Our formal history dates back to 1988, when in response
to California's Human Corps Legislation, the university created the
"Students for Community Service" program. This program was formed
to supervise and coordinate all campus service endeavors.
Since 1988, the program has grown to include
service-learning curriculum support for faculty, regular service
events for students, two community service courses, the
Jumpstart and
Fresno READS literacy
programs, and outreach to community partners, among many other
programs and projects.
In August of 2007, Jan and Bud Richter pledged to provide
$3.5 Million to establish the
Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and
Service-Learning. Mr. and Mrs. Richter based their generous
donation on the belief that the center will, in Mr. Richter's
words, "instill in students a life-long character trait of giving
to the community." Their donation is also tied to the motto, which
they have tried to live their lives by, "Do unto others as you
would have done unto you." These concepts are aligned with the
long-standing values of this program. The endowment will allow us
to continue addressing these important tenets for decades to
come.
