College students are volunteering more than ever before, according to a new study, “College Students Helping America” released this month by the Corporation for National & Community Service.
The report found that volunteering among college students rose from 27.1 percent to 30.2 percent between 2002 and 2005, an increase of 20 percent.
Volunteering and community service at Georgetown are part of this trend. According to data gathered by the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service volunteering has increased every year at Georgetown, Executive Director Kathleen Maas Weigert said.
Adam Bolleti (MSB ‘08), a student coordinator for D.C. Schools Project said that his program has grown every year. This semester the program had more students apply to mentor local students than they could accommodate.
“We had to turn people away,” he said.
Caitlin Kelly (COL ‘08) said that Alpha Phi Omega, a community service fraternity with a chapter at Georgetown, has had strong recruitment in recent years. The group staffs several projects from visiting retirement communities and homeless shelters to Light the Night, a Leukemia fundraising walk.
“It’s just good to have new people around,” she said.
The report also found that college students are less likely to volunteer for religiously affiliated organizations than the general populace or to volunteer on a regular basis, favoring one-time, project-based service instead.
One place where the University differs from the norm is that Georgetown students often volunteer regularly, in large part due to benefits from the Federal Work Study Program, which allows students volunteers to help pay for their education.
Most of these volunteers, both nationwide and at Georgetown specifically, are younger students: 84 percent of student volunteers were in high school during the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, which the authors of the report think may have strengthened a sense of civic responsibility in students. Weigert did say that most of the student volunteers at Georgetown made a habit of volunteering in high school.
When asked whether volunteering becomes a habit, Kelly said that many members of APO actually go on to careers in public service.
“Come to think of it, it does happen a lot,” she said.
“It becomes part of the routine,” Bolleti said.
Though Weigert is pleased with the recent increases in volunteering at Georgetown, the CSJ, which serves as an umbrella group to volunteering groups at Georgetown, is trying to attract more students to service.
In an attempt to increase student participation, the CSJ is “making one-shot opportunities available,” for volunteers, Weigart said. The hope is that once students get a taste of service they will become regular volunteers, a habit that can last a lifetime. “You get hooked,” she said.
