DELAND, Fla., June 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A lot of young people want to change the world. The ones gathered at Stetson University this week are actually doing so.

More than 350 Bonner students, leaders and administrators from throughout the United States are participating in the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation's 2009 Summer Leadership Institute, June 3 to 6 at Stetson, the only Bonner school in Florida. The Bonner program guides young people in making the world a better place through service, leadership and collaboration with community partners to achieve policy changes.

"There are 1 billion of us (youth) on the planet," said Stetson alumnus and former Bonner Scholar Matt Morton, keynote speaker at the conference's opening session. "What is called the 'youth bulge' is much more. It's a movement."

Morton, who is studying for his doctorate at Oxford University in England, championed the "Bonner Love" that is an integral part of the program. That shared love enables "Bonners" to make a difference, because it bonds them, helps them bridge the world between community and higher education and challenges them to be change agents.

Representatives of the 85 colleges and universities affiliated with the Bonner program are at the conference. Most are attending workshops and development sessions, and about 50 are working primarily on local community service projects such as beach cleanups and youth activities. Environmentalist Lacey Bisnett of Washburn University in Kansas is one of the attendees focusing on service. Helping with a beach cleanup at Smyrna Dunes Park in New Smyrna Beach and with invasive plant removal at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City allowed her to compare environmental issues important in Kansas with those relevant to Florida.

"Here in Florida, it looks like environmental efforts are more about preserving natural resources and wildlife," Bisnett said. "In Kansas, we're so spread out, and development isn't a big issue. We're more about people getting people focused on green-living."

The environment is one of the issue topics reflected in the conference's theme, "From Issue to Impact." The others are community/economic development, education, global issues/diversity, hunger/homelessness, youth development, and prison re-entry. Conference sessions are aligned with issue topics.

In one workshop, participants received a "tool set" to empower youth in their communities to serve as resources for other young people. Morton led the session with Stetson alumna and former Bonner Scholar Jessily Ramirez. They detailed examples of youth empowerment projects they have been involved with in Florida, the United Kingdom, Jordan and Guatemala.

In another session, Bonners helping their campuses launch community gardens gathered to learn strategy from representatives of Oberlin College in Ohio, University of Louisville in Kentucky, Ripon College in Wisconsin and West Virginia Wesleyan College. Participants swapped ideas, brainstormed solutions to challenges and explored related themes including the issues of sustainability and food politics.

"Some faculty members are passionate about community gardening, and about (associated) service-learning opportunities," said West Virginia Wesleyan alumna Brooke Rawson, explaining the campus collaboration at her college where she now serves as an AmeriCorps Vista worker. Some faculty members were already addressing food policy and food politics in courses when the idea for a garden started gathering support, she said. Faculty and students now work in partnership with an off-campus community garden task force.

Positive attitudes about effecting change permeate all the conference's events.

"When you're sitting in those dorm rooms, wondering if you can make a difference, you can," said Stetson Chancellor Doug Lee during the opening ceremony. The recently retired Stetson president shared the story of his lifelong passion for social justice, of the dreams he had while an undergrad at University of Richmond, and of the challenges and successes faced as a university president trying to foster change and implement those long-ago dreams.

"When you mitigate against bureaucracy, you can begin to create change," Lee advised.

For the Bonners, that change is always accompanied by love.

"Bonner Love is not just about going out and giving, but about receiving, too," said Morton.

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Celebrating its 125th Anniversary this year, Stetson University in Central Florida is an independent, private university in the liberal arts tradition. The university's College of Arts & Sciences, School of Business Administration and School of Music are housed on the historic main campus in DeLand, located between Orlando and Daytona Beach. The university also includes the Stetson University Center at Celebration, near Orlando, and two Stetson University College of Law campuses in Tampa Bay. For more information, visit www.stetson.edu or call (386) 822-8920.

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