This fall marks ten years since the founding of the Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) at Bridgewater College. Founded as the College began the restructuring process that led to the creation of three academic schools, the CEL was then described as an administrative home for the integration of classroom learning and student engagement.
“The Center for Engaged Learning helps people with good ideas connect to other people on campus, to the funding and resources they need to make engaged learning happen,” said Dr. Jamie Frueh, Founding Director of the CEL, in a Bridgewater magazine story about the Center a few years after its opening.
Frueh, now Associate Provost, says the mission for the CEL has evolved over the years, as engaged learning—building connections between the classroom and extracurricular activities—has been integrated across the curriculum of the College in ways that were only imagined a decade ago. He explains that the increasing number of students who participate in research projects, study abroad and experiential learning programs such as National Model United Nations, as well as the upcoming rollout of the new Connected Learning core curriculum, are evidence of the success of the CEL’s early goals.
“The Center is now a place where creative ideas can manifest and become programs that benefit our students,” Frueh says. “Faculty or students can come to us and say, ‘I think we need to have this,’ and we can help make it happen.”
In addition to the institutes and programs that are part of the CEL, the Center’s building at 101 Third Street also serves as a physical home to the Office of Study Abroad and International Student Services, the Commuter Student Lounge and a meeting space for classes and cocurricular activities.
“The CEL gives a home to various activities on campus and incubates new ideas,” says Anne Marsh, Director of Study Abroad and CEL Coordinator. “It is also a space on campus that is available, welcoming and homey for faculty, staff and students.”
– Heather S. Cole
6/23/2025
