Service or Volunteerism?

Service
Vassar claims to be a truly liberal arts college; its constantly evolving curriculum aims to develop students’ ability to think critically about the outside world and their place in it. According to the “Mission Statement of Vassar College,” Vassar’s goal is the “increased knowledge of oneself, a humane concern for society, and a commitment to an examined and evolving sense of values.” The best way to gain this sort of knowledge is through service learning, an experience in which students can transform their classroom learning into action.

The College has foreign language, quantitative, and freshman course requirements to encourage students to develop a diverse base of knowledge. Vassar seeks to push academic diversity and community service would be a component of this as many departments have already realized and are already incorporating volunteer work into their course offerings. The best way for Vassar to integrate this type of learning into its academic life would be to introduce a community service graduation requirement.

Much of the volunteer work currently done by Vassar students is coordinated through Community Action under the auspices of Field Work, run by five student employees. Through contact with local community service agencies, these employees help interested students find volunteer placements in Latino outreach, environmental opportunities, youth services, women’s services, health and medical opportunities, disability services, animal outreach, the arts, and food and housing. Community Action works to secure the support and resources necessary to make volunteer work a possibility for as many students as possible. One proposal involves the purchasing of a van so that students without their own transportation can still volunteer off campus.

The number of students participating in fieldwork in the 2003-2004 school year has decreased to 466 from the 550 participants in 2001-2002. However, the difference between these numbers does not correspond to a decreased interest in service learning. Rather, these numbers demonstrate that many academic departments have embraced the value of service learning and are conducting volunteer-based classes that are not directly linked to Field Work. For example, approximately 80 students each year take Africana Studies 200, the Green Haven Prison project that includes field visits to the maximum-security prison. Education and Urban Studies require that their majors take part in fieldwork; Psychology and Biology also have an extremely high number of fieldwork participants due to departmental encouragement. Many of these fieldwork placements take the form of volunteer work.

The fulfillment of such a requirement would not have to be a difficult task, especially if the Community Action Office could be further empowered to provide the necessary resources to place students with agencies whose missions they find compelling. Courses involving service opportunities could fulfill a volunteer requirement while providing the incentive of class credit. On-campus volunteer opportunities could be options for students without the time to commit themselves to a regular off-campus assignment, and students working with service organizations over breaks could also have this work count. The goal of Community Action as an office is to encourage an exchange between Vassar and the outside community, but a community service requirement in general could look beyond this. The idea would be to encourage students to be active in the world beyond Vassar, regardless of whether this involvement takes place in the immediate area or in farther flung locales.

A community service requirement would not require that each student dedicate a week of his or her life to a Habitat for Humanity project or a soup kitchen. With just ten hours per year, the equivalent of several afternoons, Vassar College would be contributing 26,000 hours of service to the outside world.

It is generally acknowledged that there is much more to a well-rounded Vassar graduate than a degree in art history or psychology. Chances are that many of the students “forced into” community service through a college requirement will realize that such work can be a fulfilling alternative to classroom learning. Students who become dedicated to community service will, hopefully, become adults dedicated to finding time for volunteerism. If the College were looking for a way to instill knowledge in its graduates that lasts long after they have left Poughkeepsie, this requirement would be an effective way of doing it.

Volunteerism
Vassar’s purpose as a liberal arts college is to give students the tools to take on a meaningful role within society after they graduate. Students are taught to analyze issues and question the status quo in the classroom, which can then be applied to being productive in the “real world.” However, while students are given the foundation, it is up to each individual how to apply it; making a community service requirement would negate the idea of “service,” in freely giving for the benefit of others, which students could come to of their own accord.

Vassar as an institution is known to value academic freedom, with relatively few requirements and the ability to make independent majors if no specific department applies to the interest of the student. Implementing a community service requirement would not only negate the idea of that freedom, but would force students to a requirement more specifically binding than current writing and quantitative requirements. The types of knowledge that community service would impart are much narrower than the potential range of choices in fulfilling the quantitative requirement.

Furthermore, none of Vassar’s liberal arts peer institutions currently require community service of their students in order to graduate. Comparable schools, such as Amherst and Wesleyan, express the same commitment to producing socially responsible citizens, but feel this endeavor is sufficient with a strong academic education. Students are encouraged to reach out at these institutions as much as they are at Vassar. Vassar is continually incorporating service into its education as it is and interested students can take classes pertaining to these interests. Other students can investigate the Community Action Office for further venues for participation.

However, there is a difference in incorporating service into specific academic fields and forcing it upon all students. Community service is not for everyone; this does not mean that these people are not making a contribution in their own way. Second of all, requiring service is in itself a problematic idea; to force students to do service removes the essence of volunteerism. Students will become more preoccupied with the logistics of filling their hours than a noble ideal of selflessly benefiting others. It will become a box to be checked off for graduation requirements, or a line to put on a resume. It ceases to be service to others and becomes service to the self.

Figuring out the logistics also brings up issues of social class that Vassar should seek to equalize on campus rather than exacerbate. Students with cars will have the advantage of ability to volunteer anywhere, while students without transportation will be limited in their options on places to go.

Furthermore, some students can afford to do unpaid summer fieldwork, whereas other students must earn money towards college. Students that don’t have to earn an income could not only complete all of their hours during the summer, without the added pressure of classes, papers, and exams, but would have more freedom to choose locations across the country or around the world. In an institution where there is such a wide range of socio-economic status, academics are an equalizing force—everyone is at Vassar for their merit, not their money.

Additionally, the Community Action Office may not have the resources necessary to oversee such a requirement. The Office would need to track the hour requirements each year for 2,400 students, nearly five times the number they are currently coordinating. If this was handled poorly, overflow would be placed on service organization that this requirement should be helping. The other option would be to hire more employees to monitor service hours; however, these funds could be better allocated to more pressing matters.

If the College put a community service requirement in place, this could appear to be institutional condescension. We would be in danger of thinking ourselves to be in an advantaged position to reach out to our less fortunate neighbors. If those we were supposed to be helping knew that we were under requirement, would they want our help to begin with? Community service is beneficial to both those who are being helped and those who are volunteering because the true nature of volunteerism is to go out of one’s way in the best interest of someone else, something that cannot be achieved through a requirement.