College opens center to aid humanity with student volunteerism

By Kristin Palpini
Staff Writer

Published on September 14, 2007

Amherst College's new Center for Community Engagement isn't looking to put a Band-Aid on social problems. It wants to heal them.

The center, which opened with a flurry of panel discussions and a visit from Gov. Deval Patrick this past weekend, is focused on filling what director Molly Mead calls a gap in social services.

The key to addressing this gap, Mead said, is training students how to effectively reach out to the community through hands-on work and education.

Governor's visit

In a Saturday morning speech commemorating the center's start, Patrick said community outreach only works when people realize that they are impacted by what affects their neighbors here and abroad.

"We need to see the stake we have in each other's dreams and struggles as our own," said Patrick, who then listed the civil rights movement, health care, gay rights and public education as examples of institutions that impact the entire community.

This realization doesn't come overnight and becoming involved in effective social changes takes even longer, Patrick noted. When addressing society's ills there are no quick solutions.

"You see it in government all the time. They govern for the next election cycle or the next news cycle. I tell you, we pay the price for this," Patrick said.

"We need to take the long view," he continued. "We need to understand that social change doesn't happen in an instant, but it will come."

This past weekend, Amherst College committed itself to the "long view."

The Center for Community Engagement has dozens of local and national nonprofit partners that have agreed to provide volunteer opportunities for Amherst College students. It is also training Amherst faculty to incorporate teaching leadership skills and meaningful social activism into the curriculum.

"We want to graduate students who feel a real commitment to making a difference in the world," Mead said. "Part of education at Amherst is really to give them the tools and skills to make a difference in the world."

The center was made possible by a $13 million gift from the Argosy Foundation, a family philanthropy established by John E. Abele, a 1959 graduate of the college.

The center has eight core nonprofit community service partners that will offer the bulk of volunteer opportunities through the center. The organizations are active in areas such as poverty, public education, human rights, the environment and public health. They include Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County, El Arco Iris of Holyoke, the English as a second language program at Jones Library, Girls Inc. and Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity.

In addition to providing volunteer opportunities, the center offers a new program through which Amherst students can exchange regular volunteer service for paid January or summer public-service internships.

"We want students who can't afford to volunteer for a whole summer the opportunity to do so," Mead said.

Some 673 students - about 40 percent of Amherst's student population - are involved with the center, said Scott Laidlaw, director of community outreach at Amherst. However, Amherst's student involvement in the community goes back decades. Students do not receive academic credit for volunteerism.

"We've been working with Amherst since before I was here," said Rene Moss, director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County, a nonprofit that pairs children with mentor-adults.

"This is such a great thing for our kids," said Moss. "I hope the center will enhance the relationship we have with Amherst and I hope we'll have more students stepping up that want to be big brothers or sisters."

Still taking shape

While the center officially opened this week, aspects of the program need to be developed further, Mead and Laidlaw said. The center still must establish a governing board of college officials and community members.

Although the center has established benchmarks and other ways to determine whether student volunteer efforts are having an impact, these barometers will need to be reviewed and updated to make sure the community is benefiting from the program, Mead said.

The center hopes to develop more academic links with the college curriculum. Now, only a handful of courses have a community service component.

"We have to do good," said Anthony Marx, president of Amherst College, during opening day ceremonies this past weekend. "We are committed to do what is right for each of us and for this college."