The Honors College is holding a book drive with bins placed around campus to collect books with elementary through high school reading levels for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salt Lake. Students from the college are also organizing a program with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah to mentor students at Rose Park Elementary School.
Tom Richmond, assistant director of the Honors College, said most students in the college are involved in a number of volunteer activities, even if not sponsored by the college itself.
HSAC, the Honors Student Advisory Council, organizes most service-oriented activities within the college.
Last semester, the council organized a blood drive with ARUP Blood Services. ARUP asked the college to hold another drive this semester. HSAC is planning the blood drive for April, but the date has not yet been determined.
For the holidays, students in the Honors College decorated a 3-foot by 3-foot gingerbread house with a Harry Potter theme. The gingerbread house went to the Festival of Trees, an annual event benefiting patients at Primary Children’s Medical Center.
“I think we like to give back to the community because the Honors College does draw a lot of support from the community,” said HSAC co-chair Safia Ahmed, a junior in chemistry. “Lots of the college-sponsored programs like internships, scholarships and so forth are sponsored by the community and U alumni.”
Honors Community Leadership Scholars is one such program where students meet with community leaders once a month to learn the importance of using their education for the good of the community at large.
Ahmed said these community leaders and advocates have inspired them to use the education they are obtaining at the U to help those who are disadvantaged.
Suzanne Liu, a junior in music and biology and HSAC co-chair, credited a talk that community advocate Pamela Atkinson gave to honors students as an inspiration to become involved in service.
“(Atkinson) was a very inspiring lady and told us how much we needed to give back to the community,” Liu said.
Both Ahmed and Liu said many honors college students volunteer with the Bennion Community Service Center.
From Atkinson’s talk, students in the Honors College were inspired to organize a program called “Dare to Care,” which takes college students to elementary schools, such as Rose Park Elementary School, to mentor children, some of whom come from low-income, single-parent homes. Participants will visit students for an hour each week to help them with their schoolwork.
Honors College students will officially kick off the program this week with tables in the Union Free Speech Area and flyers throughout campus urging students to sign up for the program.
“In my personal experience, life is more worthwhile when you’re helping someone who doesn’t have much support in their life,” said John Bowers, a junior in economics and Spanish and an organizer of Dare to Care. “It is extremely valuable for those being served and for the person doing the service.”
The Boys & Girls Club’s book drive will continue until next month.
“Because honors classes are smaller, you’re more likely to be involved in (service) programs,” Ahmed said. “But everyone has a potential for leadership and service in the community.”