History of the Alumni Service Corps

History of the Alumni Service Corps

The Alumni Service Corps was started in the Missouri province of the Society of Jesus in 1992. The program was modeled after the successful Jesuit Volunteer Corps. The volunteers taught at all three of the Missouri province Jesuit high schools (DeSmet, Rockhurst, St Louis University High School and Regis High School).

The Marquette University High School Alumni Service Corps, first operative in the fall of 1993, was established to reflect the fundamental philosophy of the school. Designed to provide an avenue for involvement on the part of recent alumni, the program was founded on the belief that youthful participation in the school encourages the growth and service orientation of the entire school population.

Father George Winzenburg, former president of Marquette University High School, first introduced the program to Marquette. An integral part of his vision was his belief that young men should serve as volunteers in the classroom, in the school community, and in the neighborhood. His vision was based on his involvement in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, a program established at a number of Jesuit universities. The focus of this program has thus come to be on the guilding of a faith community in conjunction with the building of a teaching cooperative, allowing the participants to grow in their understanding of Christ, of the teaching process and of one another.

In 2006 the program was opened up to provide this opportunity not only to MUHS alumni, but to other qualified and interested individuals.