The U offers students many opportunities to perform service. The Associated Students of the University of Utah, the Bennion Center and other departments, schools and organizations regularly hold events designed to benefit the community around us. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of students take advantage of a wonderful opportunity to serve, learn, gain college credit and generally feel better about life. I strongly believe that if more students were to participate in these events, the U community as a whole would greatly benefit, in ways both direct and indirect, from the service provided.
It is critical that the U maintains a good relationship with the community at large. Being in the odd situation that the U finds itself-a commuter school in an urban area-sometimes it is hard to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship between the U and surrounding areas. Students spending limited amounts of time on campus may not be aware of service opportunities. In addition, the nature of the commuter lifestyle may not allow much time for service. However, students should make it a higher priority.
Last week, the Associated Students of the University of Utah held the “Pulling for Unity” contest. This contest encouraged student organizations on campus to gather a group to compete in a tug-of-war against other student groups for prizes. The $40 entry fee paid by the student organizations was donated to the Ronald McDonald House, just down the street from campus. This is a great example of service students should get involved in, as it makes it extremely easy. This event was fun for all involved and benefitted the community.
The Bennion Center, tucked away in a corner of the Union, also offers great opportunities for service. Its mission is to foster “lifelong service and civic participation by engaging the university with the greater community in action, change and learning.” The Bennion Center has a seemingly endless list of service options in a large number of categories, such as cross cultural, discovering abilities, elderly services, environmental issues, health issues, tutoring and many others.
One of the most interesting programs offered by the Bennion Center is the Alternative Spring Break. Alternative Spring Break “places teams of college students in distant communities to engage in community service and experimental learning during Spring Break.” This year, ASB will be held March 13-21 with the option of seven sites in the United States. You could work in a state park, a homeless shelter or for an AIDS service organization. This is a great opportunity because it allows students who may be very busy with school to participate in service. The cost is minimal, and the benefits are huge. If you are interested in doing this, hurry down to the Bennion Center, as applications are due this Friday.
Service can have many benefits for a U student. In addition to being an extremely fulfilling experience, students can get credit toward their degree through service learning. Many classes are available that may have service learning attached. For volunteering just a few hours a week, with an organization that will give experience applicable to the class, students can gain credit hours.
Service isn’t all about serving soup or reading to kids. If that type of service isn’t exactly your forte, perhaps civic engagement might be of interest to you. Civic engagement is another form of service that involves political activism.
If you like to work with people and feel passionately about issues, this could be your time to shine. From encouraging government responsibility to getting out the vote, this type of service can be just as rewarding as any of the other types.
Students should be more involved in our community. Although we attend a commuter school, that does not mean that we can ignore the community directly around us. We should become more active participants in the events already organized by ASUU and the Bennion Center. In addition, we should actively encourage these and other campus organizations to create more events benefiting the community in some way.