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| Jim Dwenger has spent his summer researching community impact and marketing for the Toledo Mud Hens through a grant from the James S. Kemper Foundation. |
Summer jobs and vacations are the norm for most college students. However, Bluffton College student-athlete Jim Dwenger isn’t the normal college student.
Dwenger, who will be a junior at Bluffton this fall, has spent his summer doing community research and marketing analysis of the Toledo Mud Hens, a minor league (AAA) baseball team in Toledo, Ohio, through a grant awarded by the James S. Kemper Foundation.
Last spring, Dwenger and several other BC sophomores were invited to submit a proposal for a Kemper Fellowship for 2002-03 that would give them the opportunity to fulfill their “imagination” dream this summer.
Dwenger is spending six weeks exploring the economic impact of the Toledo Mud Hens on its community. As part of his project, he will serve as an intern in the Mud Hen’s marketing department and meet with government officials, business leaders and families in the Toledo area. “Baseball has always been a passion of mine. This is like a dream experience for me,” he said. “I am really excited to have this opportunity.”
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| Jim Dwenger is a two-sport standout for Bluffton College. He was second on the team in receiving last year and led the baseball team in batting average. |
And Dwenger is no stranger to the game of baseball; in fact he’s more accustomed to playing the game rather than analyzing its effects. He led the Bluffton College baseball team with a .398 overall batting average last spring and was named honorable mention All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference as he ranked fourth in the league in on base percentage (.494) and ranked fifth in batting average (.409) against HCAC opponents. Dwenger is also a starting wide receiver on the football team and caught 19 passes for 274 yards and five touchdowns last season.
The James S. Kemper Fellows Program is funded by a $96,000 grant from the James S. Kemper Foundation to Bluffton College and seven other colleges and universities. The grant will support 20 Kemper Fellows from the eight institutions during the 2002-03 academic year. The sophomores who applied were recommended by faculty and possess at least a 3.6 GPA.
Each Kemper Fellow will receive a $1,500 to $3,000 Imagination Grant to undertake the project of their design, anywhere in the world, for at least five weeks. The Kemper Fellows will participate in the project sometime between May and August of this summer.
During their junior and senior years, the 20 fellows will meet with their respective campus presidents at least three times each year. The meetings will allow the president to help the students as mentors as well as demonstrate their commitment to the students’ futures.
"Leadership development is one of our goals at Bluffton College," said President Lee Snyder. "The Kemper Fellows program creates additional opportunities for students to undertake creative and ambitious study programs to further their education and develop leadership potential."
Dwenger plans to record his experiences through journal writing and reflecting. At the start of his junior year, he and they will gather with the 18 other Kemper Fellows and the college presidents in Chicago to share their "imagination" experience with each other.
