MCCE Presents : Engaged Faculty Award Winner Ben Hole

Ben Hole was awarded the Engaged Faculty Award on May 3 at the 2022 Community Collaboration Celebration.

Dr. Hole, a philosophy faculty member with strong ties to the Tom McCall Center for Civic Engagement, has really made his mark on campus through creative and inspiring civic engagement classes as well as his own research and advocacy.

"Ben is an amazing teacher, student mentor, and colleague, said colleague Ramona Ilea In her nomination letter."

"He has been extremely dedicated to promoting civic engagement on campus and beyond. He worked with hundreds of students on civic engagement projects, supporting them with patience and skillful guidance.

He also worked with students outside of class and he is an accomplished scholar on philosophy and civic engagement. Ben is a strong advocate for civic engagement, and he often works at the intersection of civic engagement with diversity and sustainability."

His peers in the School of Arts and Humanities collectively noted, "With his characteristic sincerity, openness, and diligence, Ben has spent the last few years getting students involved in projects larger than themselves, and it is clear from their comments and attitudes that he has made a serious, positive difference in their lives. He does all of this with incredible humility, deference and collaboration."

Reflecting on his own work for the MCCE's annual report last year, Ben wrote, "When students think about making a personal impact in the areas they care about most — messy systemic problems like structural racism on campus, and political polarization dividing the country, it is easy to feel frustrated and disempowered.

But we ask them to embrace the ethical messiness, appreciate the difficulty, and do their best to be creative and to imagine radically hopeful strategies for affecting the change that is in their power to control."

He notes that in his own work, despite "big, structurally wicked problems that seem impossible", he has "grown to feel hopeful."

Seeing the work of faculty members like Ben, and the engaged students that they are helping our university graduate, we can't help but feel the same.

Please join us in congratulating Professor Ben Hole for his collaborative nature and effective civic engagement efforts which are uniquely impactful on our campus and in surrounding communities.