News from Lindsey Wilson University
Lindsey Wilson University Bonner Scholars Program marks two decades of service to the region, honors founder Elise Hendrickson Luckey.
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (10/27/2025) Two decades ago, 10 people gathered at what was then Lindsey Wilson College and set out to change the world.
The eight students and two Lindsey Wilson staff members started the Bonner Scholars Program. Through its first 20 years of service, the Bonner Program has developed a network of Lindsey Wilson students and alumni who have become change agents throughout the world.
Lindsey Wilson Bonner Leaders have given collectively more than 380,000 hours of community service hours to dozens of community partners throughout the region. They have also traveled to U.S. cities and internationally to help meet a community’s needs.
And it was all made possible because of the vision and faith of one person — Lindsey Wilson First Lady Elise Hendrickson Luckey ’88.
On Friday night, Oct. 24, current Lindsey Wilson Bonner Leaders and alumni gathered in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship to celebrate two decades of service, along with Luckey’s leadership and her impact on the program.
At the celebration, Luckey was presented the program’s inaugural Founder’s Tribute Award. Lindsey Wilson Director of Civic Engagement, Student Leadership and the Bonner Scholar Program Kisha Burton ’13 announced the creation of the Elise Hendrickson Luckey Bonner Scholar Endowment, which will be used to support students in the program.
“Elise holds a special place in our hearts,” said Burton. “Elise doesn’t only believe in the spirit of Bonner she knew what was possible when the model of servant-leadership was brought to our campus, specifically under the incubator of Lindsey Wilson love.”
Burton said that a big reason for the extraordinary success of the Lindsey Wilson Bonner Program is because it “has had wonderful leadership over the years.”
“But it exists only because Elise inspired a shared vision that our campus and community could know Bonner love through Lindsey Wilson students,” said Burton.
Luckey said that being involved with the Bonner Program has given her “so much more being with you than you ever got from me.”
“What has happened here is so much bigger than any small part I took,” said Luckey. “I am nothing but grateful to this group of people, for what you have gone and done out in the world.”
The beginning
The Bonner Program was started at Lindsey Wilson in 2005 thanks to support from the Corella Bertram F. Bonner Foundation of New Jersey and Luckey’s efforts to recruit an inaugural class of students who shared her passion for service.
“Like every good story and every thrilling journey, we did have a starting point here at this university, and for us that starting point was when our fierce first lady had a vision,” said Lindsey Wilson trustee Bruce Harris ’08 of Birmingham, Alabama.
Harris, who was one of the first eight Bonner Leaders recruited by Luckey, said he was instantly impressed with Luckey’s ideas for the new program. Harris said that Luckey “realized that the Bonner Program program was exactly what we needed to build a bridge from this university to the community and around the world.”
“She had a vision that at this university and that at this community we could find students who could take the mission that was already transforming lives, and we could somehow get that out into the community,” said Harris. “And that from this hilltop we could change our university, we could change our community, and that we could change the lives of those who live and work here.”
Amy Thompson-Wells ’99, the Bonner Program’s first director, recalled how Luckey “had a vision for what a Bonner Program could be here at Lindsey — a program that would change lives.”
“She imagined students growing as leaders, transforming our campus, and making a lasting difference in our community and in the world through service,” said Thompson-Wells, who is now executive assistant to Lindsey Wilson’s president.
Bonner love’s $11.2 million impact
The Lindsey Wilson Bonner Program has been the launching pad for 204 alumni who have collectively given 381,354 hours of community service over two decades while at Lindsey Wilson, according to Burton.
Based on Kentucky’s average for the value of a volunteer hour, that translates into an economic impact of more than $11.2 million, said Burton.
Equally impressive is an ethos the program has developed and nurtured among students and alumni. Known as “Bonner love” for shorthand, it is anchored by seven values that are called “Common Commitments.” The commitments help guide the program’s students. Alumni who attended the Oct. 24 celebration said the “Common Commitments” still figure prominently into their everyday lives and professional work.
“The way you serve may change, but your heart for service remains the same,” said Natalie Vickous Gober ’13, who was a Bonner Scholar, a Bonner Program director and is now a program manager at the University of Louisville’s Trager Institute. “Bonner love is threaded through the way I show up for others and myself — even, and especially, when I’m tired or it’s uncomfortable or scary or hard. It’s the way I listen for community needs and do what I can to meet them. And, perhaps most importably, the ways in which I see growth possibilities in every obstacle and every opportunity.”
Thompson-Wells said that culture, which Luckey and the directors established and cultivated over the last 20 years, helped the Lindsey Wilson Bonner Program become “one of the most effective and consequential service programs ever for Columbia-Adair County and our community partners.”
It has also allowed the Bonner Program to remain flexible and responsive to changing community needs and challenges.
“Bonner is ever-changing and will continue to evolve, rising to meet the needs of the local community issues and adapting to the landscape of higher education,” said Burton. “But the one thing that will never change is our love. Bonner love is core to who we are, and that’s what we do.”
Students, alumni and staff members of the Lindsey Wilson University Bonner Scholars Program gather for a celebration of the program’s 20 years of service on Friday, Oct. 24, in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship.
Lindsey Wilson University First Lady First Lady Elise Hendrickson Luckey ’88, center, is presented the Bonner Scholars Program’s Founder’s Tribute Award during a celebration of the program’s 20 years of service on Friday, Oct. 24, in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. Also announced was the creation of the Elise Hendrickson Luckey Bonner Scholar Endowment, which will be used to support students in the program. Presenting Luckey the award are LWU Director of Civic Engagement, Student Leadership and the Bonner Scholar Program Kisha Burton ’13, left, and Bonner Assistant Director Yayi Sonnabend ’23.
Lindsey Wilson University First Lady First Lady Elise Hendrickson Luckey ’88, center, discusses the Bonner Scholars Program’s impact on the university and the community over the last two decades during a celebration of the Bonner Program on Friday, Oct. 24, in the Norma and Glen Hodge Center for Discipleship. Looking on are LWU Director of Civic Engagement, Student Leadership and the Bonner Scholar Program Kisha Burton ’13, left, and Bonner Assistant Director Yayi Sonnabend ’23.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
View Online: http://lindseywilson.meritpages.com/news/celebrating-20-years-of–bonner-love-/55299
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)