New Center for Civic Engagement Enhances Service at GW

News — By Marissa Moran on October 19, 2009 at 1:11 am

GW President Steven Knapp unveiled the Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service on Thursday evening at the first “Celebration of Service” dinner, which took place at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The Center’s launch coincides with a university-wide impetus for public service, initiating in the top administrative offices across campus.

The Center will reach out to all organizations on campus to support various service initiatives, according to Michael Akin, executive director of the Office of Government, International, and Community Relations and one of the co-chairs of the Center’s advisory committee, composed of about 20 representatives from different university departments.

“It’s not an attempt to take authority or focus away from organizations that already do service on campus,” Akin said in a phone interview. “It’s a way to make sure we do it comprehensively.” The Center will not have a physical presence on campus where students or faculty go to coordinate service projects; rather, it will be a network to “harness and direct (service) in the most beneficial and productive way for the university,” said Akin.

The announcement was part of an evening that honored GW’s commitment to community and public service and included the first presentation of the Colin Powell Public Service Award.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, M.B.A. ’71, presented his namesake award to Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth, M.A. ’92, who lost both of her legs after co-piloting a Black Hawk helicopter that had been struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq in 2004.

“Being surrounded by veterans, volunteers, professors, and donors was inspiring,” said Stephanie Mayer ’11, a Human Services major who attended the event. “Everyone in there has taken action to lead and promote some kind of service in this country and beyond.”

“The Office of Community Service is one of the most tremendous sources we have for student resources,” said Peter Konwerski, associate vice president for Student and Academic Support Services and another co-chair of the Center for Civic Engagement’s advisory committee. “We want to focus attention on that resource but also encourage academic engagement and employee engagement in public service.”

Konwerski said the Center will work with academic advising to help students find ways to connect public service to their chosen line of work. Once they declare a major, students can learn about opportunities both on and off campus where they can foster the desire to serve domestically and internationally. Konwerski noted that the Career Center, the undergraduate and graduate fellowship centers, and the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy are key campus offices that help students to ensure a future dedicated to public service.

“The university has a history of success in Teach for America, the Peace Corps, Fulbright fellowships,” said Konwerski. “We want to make those paths easier for students.”

Akin said that GW’s history of public service is well known, but President Knapp wanted to “build on the culture of service and take it to the next level” when he assumed office in 2007.

Knapp started by creating a Task Force for Sustainability and four brainstorming committees: one each for learning, community, service, and research. This year’s first Freshman Day of Service and the appointment of Alan Morrison, Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service at the GW Law Center and the third co-chair of the Center’s advisory committee were part of the greater goal to ensure that the whole university was practicing a commitment to civic engagement.

When asked whether the challenge posed to GW by First Lady Michelle Obama to achieve 100,000 volunteer hours throughout the year in exchange for her appearance at the 2010 commencement ceremony was part of the plan, Akin said that everything “happened to coincide in terms of their timing, but it was not necessarily planned… We were planning Freshman Day of Service since last year, and Michelle Obama reached out to students on the same day, so it all came together in a nice package and is taking the university’s commitment to service to a new level.”

“The creation of the Center for Public Service on campus is going to make GW a leading institution in the field of nonprofit aid and research,” said Mayer, who is an active volunteer with children’s organizations in D.C. “In the Human Services field there is a huge emphasis on community service, and I think the rest of GW has the potential to become leaders.”

The Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service will undergo a national search for an executive director within the next few weeks, and he/she is expected to be in place by early 2010.

Tags: Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, Colin Powell Public Service Award, Office of Community Service