Senior Laura Weber and junior Hunter Gros were two of more than a dozen people who joined April 3 in a reception for donors Carole and Douglas Bruns. The Bruns endowed a $250,000 gift in 2007 to promote global awareness and a commitment to service.
The reception in the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies included comments from the two students, from administrators who lead the centre, and from Douglas Bruns himself. “We’re humbled by the hospitality and the attention,” Bruns said. “For us, going to places outside our shores is a reminder of how fortunate we’ve been and how we sometimes don’t appreciate it.”
Weber and Gros shared stories of their work helping street children in Dominican Republic, from providing food and educational services to assisting with medical supplies. “This past summer was really a life-changing experience for me,” Weber said, “and hopefully it was for the people we worked with.”
The Carole and Douglas Bruns Endowment for International Service Learning funds scholarships to enable Elon students to spend a semester or summer abroad while participating in an internship and/or working with a non-governmental or non-religious organization. Once fully endowed, the program will enable six students to serve abroad each year.
Students work with professors to identify an appropriate service experience and non-governmental organization to serve. Students also write a paper, explaining how the experience enhances their Elon education, as well as determine how they plan to use their international experience once they return to Elon and build a foundation for service in the future.
The Bruns family has traveled the world extensively and understands the importance of educating globally aware citizens. Carole and Douglas Bruns made their gift to encourage in students a commitment to international service and making a difference in the world.
Carole Bruns is president and CEO of Atlantic Corporate Interiors (ACI) in Beltsville, Md., while Douglas owns his own travel and fine art photography studio. The Columbia, Md., couple are the parents of Allison Bruns ’06, who participated in Elon’s study abroad program, including a service learning experience in Tibet.