The Values and Vocations Project at Occidental College began in 2003 as a four-year project funded by the Lilly Endowment. In Spring 2008, Occidental received a 3 year Sustainability Grant from the Lilly Endowment. The overall goal of the Project is to encourage and support programs and courses that explore the relationship between values and beliefs, and meaningful work or vocations. The Project was intended to cultivate a culture of discernment on campus within which students explore the relationship between beliefs they hold and how these beliefs shape the choices they make. Ultimately, this self-understanding will extend to a deeper engagement between self and the world as students pursue experiences that help them determine what is meaningful work. The Values and Vocations Project is a campus-wide project that operates out of three primary areas:
Through their participation, students prepare to engage in a life-long process of discernment through which a desire for meaning, purpose and the best use of strengths can be employed. Implicit in this exploration is the value of strengthening society by making a contribution to the common good.
About the Lilly Endowment The Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. was founded in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. The Endowment—a private philanthropic foundation—is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location, and is devoted to the causes of religion, education and community development
The Endowment also funds projects designed to promote informed dialogue about religion in American life, generate new knowledge, communicate fresh insights, and renew and sustain vital institutions of American Christianity. |
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The Endowment supports a wide variety of efforts to enhance the quality of ministry in American congregations and parishes. It seeks both to honor the high calling of pastors currently serving local congregations and to provide opportunities for them to strengthen the capacities and skills they need for their ministerial work. Significant funding is provided as well to help identify, recruit, call and nurture into Christian ministry a new generation of talented pastors.
