By: Danielle Cooper, BA 2016
“Asking the tough questions today,” my fellow Hunger & Homelessness Team member, Wes, nudges me after I pitched some of my peers a particularly difficult inquiry. I shrug, nodding.
Yesterday our class engaged in a formal Board Meeting, each program area explaining its recent site visits and which organizations we wish to move forward with. Our classroom constantly carries a convivial atmosphere, but today the group mentality seemed just a tinge more serious.
Each of us is well aware that not all of the proposals presented will end up getting funding. We have to remind ourselves that although we have specialized in different program areas, each of us is united in the same goal.
Ironically, the same can be said about the social sector organizations that we have come to know so well over the past few months. Just as all Waco food pantries share the common bond of wanting to eradicate hunger in our community, or every arts institution seeks to enrich the creative culture of our city, each group in our class is working exclusively while still functioning collectively to achieve our Board’s mission.
This microcosm of philanthropy at work plays out not only in the community at large or in our class in general but within the express interactions between my team itself. There are four of us devoted to the Hunger & Homelessness program area – Wes, Annie, Emily, and I.
Admittedly, group projects are usually one of the most dreaded experiences of my college career, but in this specific instance, I don’t think that we could have a better team. In our research, conference calls, and site visits, each of us brings something unique to the table.
At times we have a healthy amount of disagreement about the right course of action, but when it comes down to it, our commitment to the cause shines through all of our work. In any other case, I would not be happy about showing up 45 minutes before my morning classes today to rehearse our group’s presentation. But because I genuinely appreciate the spirit of my group, my own individual interests are replaced by a desire to advance our objectives.
The organizations that we have chosen to push forward also embody this cohesive structure. Impeccable leadership is the defining characteristic of all of the grant proposals that my team has pitched. The difficulty lies in the reality that many of the proposals in our room today may also be rooted in such leadership. And though I cannot see into the morning meetings of other program areas, I’m willing to bet that every person in my class is somehow having a similar experience with their groups. Connected through our class’s mission, we have every reason to be optimistic about our direction in this process. Still, our success will not be possible without incisive discernment.
This is why we have to ask the tough questions.
About the Author: Danielle Cooper is a senior University Scholar from Boerne, Texas concentrating in Political Science and Philosophy. She is involved with Student Senate, “It’s On Us,” American Enterprise Institute, and Kappa Alpha Theta at Baylor and plans to attend UT Law School in the fall.