Changes

Since its founding in 1864, Swarthmore College has given students the knowledge, insight, skills, and experience to become leaders for the common good. Offering a liberal arts and engineering curriculum, the College is private, yet open to all regardless of financial need. It is also decidedly global in outlook, drawing students from around the world and all 50 states. The diversity of perspectives represented by Swarthmore students, faculty, and staff - including staff—including different viewpoints, identities, and histories - contributes histories—contributes to the community's strong sense of open dialogue and engagement with ideas and issues.”

The CIL's mission is to engage innovative thinking to foster student leadership practice. According to their its website, the CIL "provides opportunities for Swarthmore students to develop the abilities to lead and inspire, to listen and learn in ways that meet the challenges of our time, and to reflect the values of our community. ... The CIL strives to give all Swarthmore students the individualized support they need to become strong imaginative leaders of tomorrow. We support students by creating opportunities to hone their leadership skills in capacities like team-based collaboration, the development of social and cultural capital, and inventive thinking processes." This is done through resources available to students developing projects as well as event series that promote innovation and leadership.

Swat Tank, an idea competition, focuses on an inclusive model, one that provides students with the opportunity to take a rough idea, product, or concept and develop advance it towards its next a new incarnation, ideation, or realization. However, SwatTank is more More than just a competition; , it is a chance to transform the ideas you think and dream about into a business or social enterprise.

''Community-Based Learning Initiatives (CBL) '' Coursework that bridges the liberal arts curriculum and civic service serve at the core of Swarthmore's commitment to educating students on becoming lifelong learners. Many courses throughout the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences divisions of the college offer classes that incorporate a community service extension of the course that brings students to local community organizations to apply their classwork to serving the greater community.

This provides Swarthmore students with the opportunity to study the consequences of the mass-incarceration epidemic. Over the course of 14 weeks, “insider” students from the prison system in Chester, Pa.PA, and Swarthmore student “outsiders” are tasked with creating and researching projects and programs that could tangibly help break the cycle of mass incarceration.
 RELG 10: African American Religions - Swarthmore students learn side-by-side, via Zoom, with formerly incarcerated scholars who have recently returned home and are avid followers of a particular religious denomination (a religion that they picked up while incarcerated).

Because Swarthmore is a teaching rather than research based university, professors are encouraged to focus on students and classes rather than their own projects. Nevertheless, the Lang Visiting Professor, Denise Crossan, was is a prime example of faculty entrepreneurship on campus. She worked on a social innovation map, which charts all kinds of entrepreneurial activities going on at Swarthmore. She also created a the Swarthmore Social Innovation Lab , and helped to spearhead the Presidential Sustainability Research Fellowship Program, which connects faculty and students over sustainability initiatives on campus. Denise was also is the current faculty advisor for the University Innovation Fellows chapter at Swarthmore.

There are also several student run courses that promote student and faculty innovation alike.These include:

''CPSC 016SR (a student-run computer science course)- Critical Theory of Technology''

''PEAC014 PEAC 014 (a peace and conflict studies course)- Systems Thinking for Social Change''

''ENGR 053 (an engineering course)- Inclusive Engineering Design''