Volunteer and service-learning opportunities are within easy reach at West Virginia University’s new Center for Civic Engagement.
During the center’s first-ever Week of Engagement, April 17-22, students will be able to get involved in a community service competition, campus organization fair, project that refurbishes bicycles for people in the Gulf Coast and a Web conference on youth engagement.
The week serves a dual purpose: it is an opportunity to introduce the center while shining a spotlight on WVU student organizations, said Kim Colebank, director.
Colebank hopes the annual event will encourage students, faculty and staff to get more involved in the Morgantown community and make a difference.
Student organizations do a tremendous amount of work in our community,she said.The center would like to show its appreciation for their contributions and to encourage other students to become more civically engaged.
Those signed up for the week-long community service competition may take part in a Big Brothers Big Sisters phone-a-thon, Marilla Park clean-up, Scott’s Run Settlement House tree planting, Shack Neighborhood House after-school program and many other activities.
Individual students and campus groups will log their service hours, and the winner’s name will be engraved on a special plaque. For more information, call 304-293-8761.
Meanwhile, Tau Beta Pi, the student engineering honorary, will be holding a bicycle drive for Positive Spin, a nonprofit organization that donates refurbished bikes to charity. Positive Spin is currently preparing bikes for a shipment to the Gulf Coast .
Drop-off sites include the Engineering Sciences Building April 17-21 and in front of the Mountainlair from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. April 20. To learn more about the project, contact Heath Morris at 304-322-1337 or e-mail hmorris1@mix.wvu.edu .
On Friday, April 21, or the Day of Engagement, WVU students will participate in an interactive video conference from 9-9:50 a.m. with their peers at schools in Washington , D.C. , New York and Ohio or Pennsylvania .
WVU was one of four sites selected to host aniCastabout youth engagement. State and local government officials, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will take part in the live Internet broadcast sponsored by Generation Engage, a nonpartisan group aimed at raising civic awareness among young people. One of its co-founders was Justin Rockefeller, son of Sen. John. D. Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
Also Friday, a service fair from noon-4 p.m. on the’Lair plaza will showcase many of the University’s 300-plus student organizations. Students are invited to browse the tables to see which groups they may be interested in joining.
Other fair highlights include a WVU steel drum band performance around 3 p.m. and a WVU nursery school Kids Corner with art, music and sports activities for younger children.
Ron Justice, assistant dean of students, and Michael Sandy, executive director of Amizade, a nonprofit organization that encourages intercultural exploration and understanding through volunteer and service-learning programs, will be guest speakers.
On the Net:www.wvu.edu/~cce/week_of_engagement.html