Serve the College, Serve the World

Mahatma Gandhi said “be the change you wish to see in the world.”  W&M students are doing just that.

Throughout my almost decade-long tenure at the College, I have continually been astounded and inspired by the culture of service that exists on this campus.  To call our Office of Student Volunteer Services active is a massive understatement.  Each year, approximately 75% of W&M undergrads participate in over 320,000 hours of community service with 90 regional partnerships and numerous domestic and international service trips.  It would seem that for an institution of only 5700 undergraduates, service is not about lipservice, it’s about action.

On a smaller, more local scale, William & Mary students are making a difference just about every day.  Students tutor in local elementary schools, volunteer in battered womens’ shelter, and visit the elderly in local nursing homes all through student volunteer organizations.  Students are also finding creative ways to serve.  Recently, the W&M Club Rowing Team attempted to not only make a difference, but also to set a world record.  While raising funds for their team and promoting environmental sustainability initiatives, the Rowing Team tried to set a world record for the most people to row on a single rowing machine in a 12-hour period.  The group videotaped the effort and will send it to the Guiness Book of World Records for consideration.  While the accolade would be something special, what makes the effort truly unique is the desire of the team to promote a cause close to their hearts.

On a national scale, W&M organizes and holds the largest collegiate bone-marrow drive in the country.  The drive is entirely student-run.  One in Four, an all-male sexual assault peer education group, was started at the College by a faculty member and some undergraduate students.  Initial members (all students) set out on a cross-country RV tour to establish chapters at other colleges and universities.  Not only were they featured in Oprah’s O Magazine but they have been successful in establishing 40 chapters across the country.  W&M young alumni are also making a difference in the nation’s most underserved schools.  This past weekend we celebrated Homecoming.  On Friday night I met up with some of my former student interns (all ’08 graduates).  Five of my ’08 interns are currently working for Teach for America in Memphis, Charlotte, Philadelphia, and South Dakota.  Recent research has indicated that proportionally, W&M sends more students into Teach for America than almost any other college in the nation.

On a global scale, W&M students are taking William & Mary culture of service abroad.  Two of my former interns are currently working for the Peace Corps, one in Tanzania and the other in Costa Rica.  Like Teach for America, the College sends more students per capita into the Peace Corps than almost any other American college or university.  Cosmo Fujiyama (’07), a former tour guide and admission multicultural intern, started a non-profit organization with her brother called Students Helping Honduras while she was a student at the College.  Cosmo started the organization in 2005 and today, chapters of Students Helping Honduras exist at 10 different universities.  She continues to work for that organization today.

George Srour (’05) created Building Tomorrow, an international non-profit organization which empowers young people to raise funds and awareness for disadvantaged children in sub-Saharan Africa.  Two other alumni (one of whom is a friend of mine) built upon Srour’s efforts by creating Global Playground which seeks out educational projects in developing nations and then solicits the help of young professionals in funding those projects.

Margaret Meade said, “never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”  William & Mary students work every day to be thoughtful, to be committed, and to make a difference.  They are in fact changing the world.

Postscript: I would like to note that I pride myself on my blog titles.  My father is a law professor who publishes frequently.  He has instilled in me the value of a catchy title.  This blog title is a nod to him.  Last year he published an article entitled Serve the Cheerleader, Serve the World.

– Wendy Livingston