Slippery Rock University students are engaged in the local community –– and one student has taken his involvement to new heights of leadership and collaboration. Justin Nowelle, a senior strategic communication and media major from Pittsburgh, has found purpose and impact as the founder of an organization, the Slippery Rock Community Library Friends Club.
“As a civic leader on campus, it is my duty to connect students with opportunities, on and off campus for community service and engagement,” Nowelle said.
His experience as a civic leader started during his freshman year, when he applied for and received the Haverlack Good Citizen Scholarship before entering the Haverlack Civic Scholars Program.
The Haverlack Civic Scholars Program is built around encouraging students to take actions that improve the SRU campus and external community, as well as preparing students for lives filled with public purpose and engaged citizenship.
“As a freshman, applying and getting involved was a bit out of my comfort zone, but it definitely allowed me to develop and learn,” Nowelle said.
In his final year of the program, Nowelle shifted his focus toward an off-campus organization, the Slippery Rock Community Library, to complete the final phase of the program. He realized that his involvement could go beyond doing simple daily tasks as a volunteer at the library.
“I needed to try and connect the resources of the library to students on campus, mostly through volunteer opportunities like cleaning up the yards, assisting with the craft program, or even telling a story for the weekly story time,” Nowelle said. “But it was difficult finding the hours with it being such a small library.”
Additionally, the distance from campus –– more than a 25-minute walk across town –– was a barrier. Identifying a need, Nowelle and Jeffrey Rathlef, director of SRU’s Center for Community Engagement, came up with a plan to create an on-campus chapter of the off-campus library.
The Slippery Rock Community Library Friends Club was born, created to connect students to off-campus library resources and volunteer opportunities. The club provides students the chance to engage with the community while also improving their own skills.
“I was partnered with the library because of my skills in digital media, and all they really needed was help revamping their website,” Nowelle said. “But as I went on, I was looking at all the other areas in which I could support them. So, I came up the Slippery Rock Community Library Friends Club.”
The club brings students, faculty and campus organizations together, all with the goal of getting involved in community service and engagement projects that make lasting impacts. Since the club was approved as a student organization in spring 2025, the SRCL Friends Club has achieved immediate success. It was recognized for its excellence in service by SRU’s Office of Student Engagement and Leadership at its annual Leadership Legacy Awards.
“This will be the legacy that I leave behind after I graduate,” Nowelle said.
Through his leadership and initiative, Nowelle has strengthened the connection between students and the local community, ensuring that support for the Slippery Rock Community Library will continue, even after his graduation.
More information about Slippery Rock Community Library Friends Club is available on the RockServe site for student community engagement and on CORE, the online platform for student organizations.
More information about the strategic communications and media program can be found on the program’s webpage.
