Southwestern Magazine | Fall 2019

55 SOUTHWESTERN PA R E N T R E L AT I O N S Food for thought Once a ghost town in the evenings, the Georgetown Square is now a destination for students and their parents. The historic downtown features preserved architecture, with the old Williamson County Court- house surrounded by locally owned retail shops and restaurants. Ron Goldman P’21 and his son Nathan Goldman ’21 enjoy connecting on Ron’s visits to Georgetown over a slice of pizza at 600 Degrees. Ron shares, “Visiting the city of Georgetown has become an unexpected pleasure as a result of Nathan attending Southwestern.” Stepping outside the square, when students are missing the comforts of home, a local church has provided a place to slow down, engage in conversation, and eat a hot meal, complete with homemade desserts. There were very few students who had ventured west on Williams Drive to Crestview Baptist Church prior to the inception of Church Lunch a few years ago. As Marty andRandi Rosenkrantz P’22 observe, “The best of Georgetown is exemplified with the church lunch, provided to 500+ students at Crestview. Katie told us she goes once a week with friends and that lunch is good— and free to all SUstudents! As parents, we so appreciate the thoughtfulness of the church’s congregants, andwe knowKatie does, too!” These experiences represent only a small fraction of the ways Georgetown is adding meaning to the lives of Southwestern students. Sarah Brackmann, senior director of integrative andcommunity-engaged learning, adds, “Opportunities to engagewith the community rein- force Southwestern’s core purpose of preparing students to be active and impactful contributors to thewell-being of humanity. Volunteering, interning, and engagingwith Georgetown allows students to connect what they are learning in their courses to real-world contexts and, in the process, to become social-change leaders.” Hundreds of SU students partake in a complimentary lunch hosted each week by Crestview Baptist Church in Georgetown.