Lilly RSVP Scholarship and Urban Fellows Program
We encourage students to seek out how they are to live in this world, to accept and respond to the calling that is evident in the circumstances in which God has placed them.
The Lilly Religious Scholars Vocation Program and the Urban Fellows Program are two of the programs that the Center for Calling and Engagement offers to assist students in their development.
Lilly Religious Scholars Vocation Program (RSVP)
About Lilly RSVP
RSVP is a four-year program that offers undergraduate ministry formation, theological reflection, internships, and educational discussions. Participants must exemplify values compatible with faith-based leadership and express a statement of faith and sense of God's calling. The program is open to incoming high school graduates as college freshmen, and transfer students within one year of graduating high school who acknowledge a high level of calling for ministry and will enroll as religious studies majors or minors with an appropriate major for their ministry focus.
Students may apply in their junior year of high school. Participants in the program must be accepted at Stritch with a minimum of a 2.5 GPA. The associated Lilly RSVP Leadership Scholarship is awarded competitively and requires a minimum GPA of 3.0. Lilly RSVP Leadership Scholarship recipients must have significant involvement in youth leadership and service in a church, parish, or faith-based organization.
The RSVP scholarship award is designed to reward students who feel called to Christian leadership. Students in this program live on campus and participate in various opportunities and experiences to help them better understand and prepare for their specific call to ministry. The scholarship amount may vary.
Students accepted to Lilly RSVP actively participate in regular gatherings organized by Center for Calling and Engagement staff, RSVP students, and religious experts. RSVP students also complete various field experience and internship encounters, participate in organized service and mission activities, journal, and participate in reflection groups on required readings and program experiences.
General Application Requirements
- Minimum GPA of 2.5 (3.0 for the Leadership Scholarship)
- Major or minor in Religious Studies
- Complete the Stritch admission process
- Have significant involvement in youth activities and service in a church, parish or religiously related organization
- Exemplify values compatible with Christian leadership
- Express a statement of faith and sense of calling to some form of ministry
- Have a strong service and volunteer background
- Supply requested references
Benefits
Participants in this program will:
- Have the opportunity to choose special certification areas: Adult and family ministry, youth ministry, urban ministry, chaplaincy, theology, etc.
- Gain broad knowledge of ministry, faith development, theological understandings, ethical and moral development
- Gain a deeper sense of themselves, and themselves in relation to others
- Be a part of an intentional community of their peers
- Establish long-term supportive relationships with peers, staff and faculty
- Receive local, national and international service and ministry opportunities
- Attend conferences and gain national exposure
- Get help selecting a seminary or graduate school
- Receive assistance in ministry placement following graduation
- Participate in professional internships in church ministry and related agencies
- Obtain assistance in further clarifying their call to ministry
Download the Lilly RSVP 2012-2013 Application .
Urban Fellows - Experiential Learning and Engagement
The Urban Fellows program offers students the ability to make a difference right now in their community. Participants gain a full experience of the urban environment by working and learning alongside urban leaders in non-profit and civic agencies or organizations. Since the summer of 2008, this experiential learning opportunity has placed Stritch students in more than 40 local agencies that are partnered with Stritch to support the program.
The program has three tracks:
- Citizen Scholar-M3C is intended for first-generation college students. Citizen Scholars serve in a community agency, attend seminars, and are assigned a mentor. Federal Work Study may be used for student employment. Participants are eligible for a $1,000 AmeriCorps award to be applied towards tuition or their student loan.
- Social Justice Internship - is available for students who are considering working in a non-profit organization to address social needs. Interns are placed with an urban leader to engage and explore their own calling. Each student determines their learning goals for their experience. Federal Work Study awards may be available for student employment. Internships may also fulfill academic internship requirements within their field of study.
- Experiential Learning Volunteer/Work Study- is an opportunity for students to serve the community on a regular basis with one of the community partners. This may be done as a volunteer or using Federal Work Study awards as student employment.
- SCOPE Corps (Stritch Center for Opportunity and Promise in Education) is sponsored by the School of Urban Initiatives. In collaboration with the Center for Calling and Engagement, this team of students serves as learning coaches for the SCOPE Prep Program at the Greentree Teutonia Community Learning Center in Milwaukee.
Basic Participant Requirements
- Articulate a strong sense of call or interest in a particular social issue or concern with a readiness to become engaged in direct program approaches that seek to make a difference.
- Available to actively participate in scheduled reflection exercises, workshops, monthly gatherings and evaluations.
- Will develop specific learning goals and work-plans for each semester they are involved in the program.
Application Process
- Complete and submit the application. Urban Fellow Application
- Students will then be invited to review their materials and interests, participate in an interview with the Center staff.
- If accepted into the program, possible placement opportunities will be explored. Students will participate in an orientation prior to beginning their service as an Urban Fellow.
A report on the Urban Fellows Program is available here. Urban Fellows Program Annual Report
Involvement in these programs starts with a simple conversation with a member of the OVD staff.
For more information:
Center for Calling and Engagement, #84-A
6801 N. Yates Road
Milwaukee, WI. 53217-3985