Here are many opportunities on campus to get involved, build your civic and community engagement skills, and build the world you want to live in!
Students can work with community members on a wide range of wicked challenges AND get credit for doing it by taking an Academic Civic Engagement course!
Visit Presence and search organizations by “service” to find an organization that speaks to the issues you most care about!
THEN–reach out to get signed up and involved!
Wanna take your leaderships to the next level? Offer to join an organization’s executive committee to steer the organization during your time at St. Olaf and keep it going for generations of Oles to come.
If you have a federal or state work award, you are eligible to use your work award at a job in the local community!
The Scott Kloeck-Jenson Social Impact Scholars summer internship program places Oles with alumni at various Twin Cities nonprofits.
The Phillips Scholars Program is a one-year leadership development program providing students the opportunity to create, collaborate on, and complete a summer project focusing on a specific community issue. Student must be in their first year or sophomores interested in community service. Selected scholars receive a $9,500 scholarship.
St. Olaf College’s Svoboda Legal Scholars Program offers an opportunity for a select group of undergraduate students to perform intensive legal research and/or to serve in a legal support role in social impact-oriented clinics at the University of Minnesota, Mitchell Hamline, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of St. Thomas, University of Notre Dame, and University of Virginia schools of law.
Service Saturday, a part of New Student Orientation, helps introduce first-year Oles to the local community in mid-September. In 2025, 148 students and peer leaders served at nine different community sites. Learn more about the event here!
Students are also invited to choose your own adventure through volunteering on your own or finding internships with local nonprofits and government entities.
Not sure where to start finding volunteering opportunities? Start by visiting the Northfield Shares Volunteer Hub to discover current opportunities and organizations looking for volunteers.
Local organizations are also posting internship positions on Handshake (make sure you’ve also signed up for the Piper Center’s Social Impact newsletter!). Since many are unpaid or underpaid, you can also apply for funding to help sustain you financially during your local internship.