Center for Community Engaged Learning Highlights: Community Engagement Scholars Program
A group photo of the 2025-2026 CESP cohort and community partners at the annual CESP showcase on April 17, 2026 at the MSUFCU Community Room.
By: Stephanie Brewer
The Michigan State University Community Engagement Scholars Program (CESP) reached a significant milestone during the 2025-2026 academic year, marking a decade of sustained, reciprocal partnerships between students and community organizations. This initiative, offered by the Center for Community Engaged Learning in partnership with the MSU Office of the President, has hosted more than 100 student scholars since its inception in 2016. This year, the scholar cohort continued its mission of preparing student leaders to engage with social issues through capacity-building projects ranging from community and economic development to advocacy and direct service.
Scholar Jannet Garcia showing a bag of first aid and hygiene supplies that will be packed into a resource kit for an unhoused neighbor.
Michigan Women’s Commission stakeholder relations lead Anna Rose Benson (left) and scholar Madelyn Schurman (right) with Schurman’s poster about their partnership at the annual showcase on April 17, 2026.
The 2025-26 year culminated in the annual Scholars Showcase in April, where scholars presented their engagement work to friends, family, and community partners. This year’s impact was defined by deep collaboration with several community partner organizations who serve as vital co-educators for the students.
The following scholars engaged with these incredible organizations:
- Kennedy Allen, Capital Area District Libraries
- Prachurjo Das, City of Lansing Community Development Office
- Jannet Garcia, Refugee Development Center
- Roberto Marcos Garcia, Tenant Resource Center of Mid-Michigan
- Abigail Livingston, Allen Neighborhood Center
- Ainsley McNamara, Refugee Development Center
- Jessica Pacheco-Perez, R.E. Olds Transportation Museum
- Deanna Retland, Michigan College Access Network
- Anabelle Sanchez, Todd Martin Youth Leadership (since renamed to Teaching & Mentoring Young Leaders)
- Madelyn Schurman, Michigan Women’s Commission
2025-2026 scholars with many of the 100 resource kits they packed for the Tenant Resource Center as their cohort project. Left to Right: Prachurjo Das, Madelyn Schurman, Roberto Marcos Garcia, Deanna Retland, Ainsley McNamara, Abigail Livingston, Kennedy Allen, Anabelle Sanchez
This year, CESP was proud to support Roberto Marcos Garcia as MSU’s Newman Civic Fellow. The fellowship is a yearlong program hosted by Campus Compact that recognizes and supports student public problem-solvers. In this role, Garcia demonstrated exceptional leadership by facilitating the CESP cohort project: a donation drive that resulted in over 100 resource kits for unhoused neighbors in Lansing. This project was a collaborative effort with his community partner, Khadja Erickson, at the Tenant Resource Center. Garcia received a mini-grant from the Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellowship program that helped fund the necessary materials for these kits. As a representation of the commitment he has shown, Garcia received Campus Compact’s Student Leadership Award, one of only four awards presented nationwide.
As CESP concludes its landmark 10th year, it continues to serve as a vital space where MSU students develop their identity as community-engaged leaders. Reflecting on the program’s impact at the annual showcase, vice president for Student Affairs Jim Hintz noted that this work “teaches you to listen before you speak, to serve before you lead, and to see the dignity and wisdom of every person that you encounter.” By bridging the gap between theory and practice, scholars and community partners demonstrate that engagement is a fundamental form of teaching and learning for the university.
