Dominican, City of Novato Program Focuses on "Reimagining Citizenship"

Launched last year, Reimagining Citizenship is a unique program in which students receive a high quality college education while engaging with the community through local government. The program gives undergraduate students a greater understanding of the functions of local government. Each student works  in various departments during two consecutive summers.

All Reimagining Citizenship students choose from more than 30 majors. Each student also will receive credit toward Dominican’s minor in Community Action and Social Change. The minor provides students from all disciplines and interests a path toward deeper understanding of issues affecting communities and the nation.

Read news stories about the Reimagining Citizenship program:

Marin Independent Journal, January 10, 2018

Marin Independent Journal, July 7, 2018

Marin Independent Journal, April 2, 2019

Reimagining Citizenship aligns with Dominican’s distinctive commitment to the Dominican Experience, a rich set of inter-connected experiences designed to enhance student learning and success in college and beyond in  today’s complex, changing, and diverse world.

Dominican provides each qualified Reimagining Citizenship Scholar with up to $100,000 in scholarship funding over four years. The City of Novato contributes an additional $10,000 per student ($5K over two years). The initial cohort of five students entered Dominican as freshman in fall 2018 and will complete their second summer with the city this year.

The program is open to high school students who are residents of Novato. Students attending any public, private, or home school program are eligible to apply. Students in any major can participate in the program.

The program grew from conversations between Dominican President Mary B. Marcy and former Novato Mayor Josh Fryday about the importance of educating students to address and solve social issues at the local level. The program is being designed to serve as a model for future public sector/private sector partnerships focused on education and community engagement.

“Both in the classroom and through their engagement with the city, the students will learn to identify and address the most important issues facing our community,” Marcy says.  “Our communities are the tapestry of the nation, and local engagement and education will lead to a more informed democracy.”

Reimagining Citizenship will encourage students to engage in a meaningful way on the issues that impact our communities, Fryday says. “Government has to provide opportunities for service,” Fryday says. “This Program unleashes the spirit of service by providing our young people the opportunity to work in and give back to their communities while attaining a college education,” he says. “Our country needs to reimagine what it means to be an engaged citizen in our democracy, and it starts here at home.”