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Last month, students in the SRE Certificate program at Leeds spent a morning preparing meals for our unhoused neighbors and delivering them, along with other essentials, to people living along Boulder Creek. This event was CESR’s first service-learning opportunity. It was designed to help students see first-hand some of the social challenges that exist in our community. The event also aimed to build connections among business students who care about creating a positive social and environmental impact.��

“We were providing sandwiches to people, but the bigger part is talking to people about their stories, or about whatever they want to talk about,” said Laura Lammons (Mktg, SRE ’26), a student who participated in the volunteer opportunity. “So many of these people are ignored and treated as less than human every day. You talk to them and realize how normal they are.”

"Part of what made this experience so eye-opening is how close it is to campus and our students’ day-to-day lives."

Several student volunteers shared that they often run along the Boulder Creek Path next to campus, but they had never spoken to the unhoused people who live there. That familiarity with the area was part of the appeal in choosing this volunteer opportunity, said Sarah Arney, program coordinator at CESR, who organized the event.��

“We wanted students to have a transformational experience that might change their perspective,” Arney said. “Serving our unhoused neighbors along Boulder Creek with the was a great fit.�� Part of what made this experience so eye-opening is how close it is to campus and our students’ day-to-day lives.�� Through conversation, students start to understand that people may end up unhoused for a whole variety of reasons, and that even CU students can struggle with housing or food insecurity.”��

Lammons reflected on how the learnings from her classes in the SRE Certificate program helped her to put the experience in context.��

“We’re learning to consider how business decisions impact everyone in the community,” Lammons said. “An experience like this makes you think about how business decisions in Boulder could relate to why we don’t have enough housing for everyone who lives here.”����

Fostering reflection and critical thinking like that is key to the curriculum at Leeds, and particularly in the c