Last Saturday, more than a thousand Hopkins students and staff members gathered to participate in the President's Day of Service, according to several of its coordinators. They assembled in the Ralph S. O'Connor Recreation Center at around 1:00 p.m.
According to Bill Tiefenwerth, director of the Center for Social Concern, students had responded very positively to days devoted to service in the past.
"We've had students come back and say, 'Gee, I did this project, I'd like to start an organization centered on it.' So it's just something that we all look forward to every year," he said.
Until this year, however, the Day of Service, formerly called "Involved", had been targeted towards freshmen, and would take place during the last day of Orientation.
However, this year, as Tiefenwerth explained, "The president, as part of his inauguration activities, felt it was important to have a day of service including any part of the Hopkins family that would like to join."
Daniels himself attributed the inspiration for the event to his wife.
The widened scope of the day has presented new challenges for those involved in its planning.
This year, an online registration process was introduced.
"We asked people to give us basic information, but also to choose among issue areas and we tried to match that," explained Lisa Morris, coordinator for the President's Day of Service.
This facilitated the process of assigning volunteers to the many sites at which they could help.
The event itself was not only larger, involving more volunteers and sites, but would also take place on a Saturday, rather than on a Wednesday as it had in the past.
It was necessary to "solicit time from agencies [normally closed on Saturdays]," and encourage them to "open their doors to Hopkins volunteers," said Tiefenwerth.
However, Morris noted, "The response has been really great." The President's Day of Service involved 47 different organizations in Baltimore, "ranging from grass-roots groups to really large organizations," she added.
In addition, 29 different student groups who sponsored the event, each of which brought at least 10 students to the Day of Service.
The Mentoring Assistance Peer Program (MAPP) brought 40, the highest number of participants brought by a single sponsor.
The event attracted a large number of volunteers. Half of the thousand or so participants were freshmen, as junior Cassie Kowal, assistant coordinator of the President's Day of Service, pointed out.
Roughly 200 were sophomores, 100 were juniors and another 100 were seniors. The rest of the participants were staff members.
"We were certainly trying to get that great response," said Morris, adding that it would be an "involved experience" for new students, as well as a "class-bonding experience," as it had been in the past.
Freshman Charlie Tsouvalas had thought that participation was mandatory, and expressed surprise that it was not.
"But I like community service - and meeting new people from our diverse class," he said.
Jay Spence, also a freshman, agrees that "reaching out" was the main driving force that encouraged him to do service.
"I saw the e-mail and signed up. I am very into volunteering," sophomore Cielo Jaimes said.
However, freshman Alex Dakos, said, "I never did community service in high school. I have always enjoyed academic clubs better."
Dakos added, "I wanted to try something different, and it was really fun, talking to friends while doing something meaningful."
His classmate, freshman Zserilyn Finney, was glad that she participated. "I was resistant at first. But the kids from East Baltimore came out to help us, and it was really enjoyable."
Tiefenwerth commented on the future of service at Hopkins by suggesting that "student organizations, such as Greek life associations and multicultural associations could get involved in the upcoming years."
The CSC hopes to keep students engaged in volunteer work.
"We want to introduce students to new experiences," Tiefenwerth said. "This is a milestone in Hopkins history."
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