Holy Cross Establishes Office on Community-Based Learning

WORCESTER, Mass. – In an effort to increase meaningful interaction between Holy Cross students and the Worcester community, the College is pleased to announce the establishment of the new Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning. Made possible by a $1.2 million gift from Joseph P. Donelan II '72 and his family, the office will be housed under the College's Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies.

According to Donelan, his gift is meant to "fill in the gaps" between Holy Cross and the city of Worcester. The new office, which builds on and enhances the First-Year Program, will combine experiential learning in the Worcester community with rigorous academic classroom activities. Donelan expects the office will help strengthen the College's ties with Worcester while enhancing the curricular offerings for second-year students.

Donelan is vice president of the A.T. Clayton Company, Inc., in Greenwich, Conn. A member of the Holy Cross Board of Trustees, Donelan endowed the Rev. Msgr. Joseph P. Donelan '34 Scholarship Fund in 1997, to honor his uncle. The fund was established to assist students—who are the children of teachers, who are from single-parent homes or who are children of immigrant parents—attend Holy Cross.

The newly appointed director of the office is William C. Meinhofer, Ph.D. He will serve as a liaison between the Worcester and Holy Cross communities to identify and maintain placement sites in Worcester County for students who participate in courses that involve reflective academic community-based experiences. He also will be responsible for coordinating a two-day summer workshop for members of the Worcester community involved in administrative roles at partnership sites across the city.

Bilingual in English and Spanish, Meinhofer is the founding executive director of Sociedad Latina, Inc., a non profit Massachusetts corporation providing human services to primarily Latino families and children. A 1994 graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Meinhofer earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Boston College, where he has taught undergraduate courses.