The Love Movement held a “Spread the Love” event on McKelding Mall in 2011, where they made sandwiches for the homeless. This year marks the fourth time the university has earned the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
Over the past year, university students gave more than 300,000 hours to the community in the 2011-12 academic year, one hour of weeding, mentoring, teaching and building at a time.
Their combined volunteer efforts helped earn the university a spot on the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This year marks the fourth time the university has earned the distinction, one of the highest honors a college can receive for its dedication to volunteering, service learning and civic engagement.
The honor highlights the campus’ commitment to encouraging volunteer work through academic as well as service-oriented programs, said Deborah Slosberg, coordinator for local community service-learning.
“There is a huge number of volunteer and service opportunities all across campus,” she said. “We have programs focusing on environmental issues, to poverty, to education — and those are just a few. This award helps the university show that we care about our entire community and are ready to serve them.”
The Leadership and Community Service Learning Center offers students the opportunity to participate in service programs such as America Reads*America Counts, a mentoring program between students at the university and at Prince George’s County elementary schools, and Partners in Print, which holds workshops that teach parents how to help their children with reading. Ali Barlow, America Reads*America Counts coordinator, said these types of programs help students gain social awareness and teach them how to contribute to solving global problems.
“It’s really important for students to see how much impact they can have in a community and in the world,” she said. “Service helps students see the connection between what they learn in the classroom and what they see in real life, all while benefiting others.”
Academic programs, such as College Park Scholars and the CIVICUS living-learning program, also make up a significant portion of the community service learning projects on the campus. Sixty Scholars volunteer weekly with Paint Branch Elementary School students as part of the Lakeland STARs mentoring program, and some Scholars programs, such as Public Leadership, require students to dedicate time to a charity or service project of their choice.
“The university has a long history of being engaged in community service learning — this award is not just a one-time thing,” said said Ben Parks, scholars program assistant director. “This focus sets the campus apart as an institution that builds a relationship with the community and develops an understanding of the community.”
All incoming scholars program freshmen are involved in an annual Service Day, on which 950 students volunteer at 22 different sites, including local elementary schools and the Interfaith Clothing Center, Parks said. Lucia Rizzo, a freshman business major and International Studies scholar who participated at the Brookside Gardens site on Service Day in August, said the experience helped her realize the benefits of environmental community service.
“Especially today, with all of the drama over the environment, community service for the environment is really necessary and a lot more helpful than we realize,” she said. “I was glad that I could help, and that Scholars would give us this opportunity. Scholars students are supposed to be well-rounded, and community service definitely plays a role in shaping that characteristic.”
Students in CIVICUS, a two-year academic citation program that emphasizes involvement with the community, work with more than 130 service organizations, including the Food Recovery Network, Habitat for Humanity and the Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission, said Sue Briggs, CIVICUS director. Although students are obligated to dedicate a certain number of hours to volunteer work, Briggs said most students exceed the required minimum service time because of their love for the community and the lessons they learn from their service.
“Our students are so curious,” she said. “They do such a great amount of service because they see that it’s a great way to be challenged and to learn. They are not doing it for the glory or the publicity, but simply want to maximize the opportunities given to them.”
Slosberg said she anticipates the honor roll selection will encourage the university to continue helping students become more civically engaged, adding she hopes more projects focusing specifically on College Park will be launched, as many of the programs are centered in Washington and Prince George’s County.
“There are always issues that we need to work more with,” she said. “One big push is to work with the very local community, and we are continuing to make an effort to do more service in that area.”
Not only does community service help others, Parks said, but it also prepares individuals for life after college.
“You could be exposed to something that could be your life’s calling by participating in community service learning projects,” he said. “We hope that these programs instill the value of a life of giving back within students.”
