Students need to help locally, not just globally - Guest Column

This past weekend, students and community members gathered together on the Upper Quad for Relay for Life, a worldwide fund raiser that supports cancer research. Despite unpleasant weather, the event raised at least $37,000, and for 12 hours the quad was alive with galvanized and dedicated students, free food, live bands and even a guy who would pay you $20 if you could beat him at Mario Kart. By all means, the event was a huge success.

But it also served as a metaphor for philanthropy at Hopkins. The Relay generated hearty support for a global cause from a student body that huddled together on the Upper Quad, a small green oasis in the middle of our blighted city.

Of course, the purpose of this column is not to criticize Relay for Life or other large, international fund raisers. Rather, I point out that as Hopkins students, we have a unique opportunity to make a huge impact on a local level. Baltimore's long list of problems -- whether it's drugs, homelessness, boarded-up row houses, neglected children, a dismal school system or widespread disease -- should be interpreted as a cry for help. And all too frequently, Hopkins students aren't there to respond.

Raising almost $40,000 for cancer research is an amazing feat, one that could only be accomplished by an enthusiastic and caring student body. But considering the American Cancer Society raises hundreds of millions of dollars through Relay for Life every year, our efforts will ultimately just be a drop in that bucket. If Hopkins and its students could find a way to donate that much manpower, time and money toward fixing just one of Baltimore's many problems, this city's bucket would be overflowing.

"Community" has been a buzzword this year at Hopkins, whether it's referring to the school's love-hate relationship with Charles Village residents or the social infrastructure in East Baltimore that the Med School's biotech park project is threatening to shatter. People are constantly arguing that the University and its students don't care about building community and would rather pretend that we live in the city of Johns Hopkins, surrounded by a sea of poverty and angry neighbors.

But until we stop treating the city of Baltimore like a dorm room -- a temporary place of residence that we don't appreciate, improve upon or grow too attached to -- they do have a point.

This is not to say that nobody at Hopkins is involved in the city, or attempting to get students involved. The Center for Social Concern offers several ways for students to make a difference in the community, such as the Tutorial Project or Teach Baltimore, and the Freshman Day of Service gives new students a showcase of ways they can get involved in improving their surroundings.

However, there is a difference between the small groups of dedicated students that these community service opportunities draw and the large public support generated by Hopkins' most popular fund raisers, almost all of which raise money for large, national causes. Relay for Life is a perfect example of such an event, in which student groups rally together, and busy students take a little bit of time out of their hectic schedules (and a little money from their wallets) with hopes of uniting to make a difference.

At a time where Hopkins' role in the Baltimore community is under constant fire, it is unfortunate that administrators and student groups haven't found a way to direct the energies of a caring, talented student body toward support for Baltimore. Everyone at Hopkins has an idea of how troubled our city is, and many students can recite statistics on the specific issues that plague Baltimore. But until students actually leave our small green oasis and enter one of the neighborhoods that are responsible for these statistics, students will not fully understand the breadth of the challenges our city faces.

Until then, the major philanthropic events at Hopkins will continue to give students nothing more than an opportunity to energetically pitch small drops into a large bucket. It just seems like a pity, given the enormous splash undergraduates could make right here in the community that surrounds them.

--Jason Farber is a senior English and Writing Seminars major from Amherst, Mass.