Sick of sanctimonious baby boomers blaming our generation’s political apathy for the sad state of the country’s affairs? Well, now you’ve got a rebuttal to hurl back at the next grey-ponytailed ex-radical who asks where your conscience is: we’re better people than they are. Numbers don’t lie.
A survey released last week by the Federal Corporation for National and Community Service revealed that college students as a group have increased their volunteering efforts dramatically in the post-9/11 era. While adults lent a helping hand 10 percent more often from 2002-2005, college students have increased their efforts in the same period by a whopping 20 percent. 3.3 million college students volunteered in 2005 alone. Even if you can’t change the course of national or global events, you have the power to change lives on the local level, a lesson these students should be applauded for having learned so precociously.
According to the study, the most active volunteers were those who were in high school or early college during the 9/11 attacks, which were a formative element in molding the conscience of this generation. The college experience of current seniors, for instance, has been marked by the war in Iraq, the natural disasters of Hurricane Katrina and the South Asian tsunami, and the ongoing Darfur genocide. Rather than being hardened by such a confluence of tragedy, our generation has taken it as the impetus to turn outward from the traditional narcissism of early adulthood.
This newly hailed “civic generation” certainly found a place on the Hilltop. Countless Hoyas volunteer, through programs like H.O.P.E, D.C Schools Project, GU HERE, STAND, Prison Outreach, and Campus Ministry. Georgetown, with such appendages as the Center for Social Justice and the Jesuit imperative of training “men and women for others,” is certainly institutionally welcoming to such programs, but at heart it is the charitable instincts of students that provide the driving force. It is not unusual for a Georgetown student to spend a Friday night at a homeless shelter or a Sunday morning at a soup kitchen. Hoyas are well-known for their commitment to post-graduate service programs like Teach for America and Americorps.
If you’re one of the many students who volunteers your time to help those less fortunate, thank you. If you’re not, there are plenty of opportunities and ample good causes — browsing http://www.georgetown.edu/home/service.html is a good place to start. So next time your history professor waxes poetic about his days in SDS, appreciate his generation’s commitment to social change, but also realize that you can be an active part of one that’s committed to social justice.
