Good to Know:the Service Dimension at W&M

By Desiree Parker Sunday, August 29, 2010

I know I gush a lot about William and Mary students when it comes to doing good works, but these kids are totally on the right track – and they’re getting recognized for that nationally.

This week, the college was ranked number one in the nation for service by Washington Monthly. That’s a huge deal – ranked number one out of all the country’s colleges for service. They’re number ten overall in this same ranking.

In their introductory comments, the editors at Washington Monthly believe that today’s college student is a different breed, thanks to the still-sluggish economy and job market.

“As a result, many are looking to do good if they can’t do well,” the editors write. “Applications to the Peace Corps jumped 18 percent in 2009. The number of students vying for Teach for America slots increased from 18,000 in 2007 to 46,000 this year.”

They say many colleges are lagging behind when it comes to encouraging students to give back to their communities and their country.

When the folks at Washington Monthly created this ranking system, “the idea was to upend the traditional notion of a college guide. Instead of asking what a college could do for you, we asked, ‘What are colleges doing for the country?’ Yes, Yale might educate a disproportionate number of future hedge fund managers. But is it laying the foundation for the kind of nation we want to become?”

Great point! If the future of the country isn’t looking too bright, maybe the best way to turn things around is to get people to look up from their iPads and cell phones and take an interest in helping people around them. This will surely serve students better in the long run, and maybe it will help change the trend of selfishness that seems to have taken root.

Here’s what the editors go on to say about William and Mary: “Colleges should be judged not just on who they enroll and how many graduate but on what students do with their lives after they leave. The College of William and Mary is ranked tenth among national universities because an unusually large number of graduates go on to earn PhDs or join the Peace Corps.”

Here’s a link to the rankings, sorted by best service criteria.

As a nice example of this service-mindedness, I read about the college’s Students Helping Out Williamsburg Day (SHOW) on Tuesday.

About 200 freshmen volunteered at places like therapeutic riding farm Dream Catchers, the Heritage Humane Society, and Lafayette Village apartments. They mucked out stalls, installed posts and talked with kids about how to be a good person and do the right thing.

When I was a freshman, I probably spent that first week unpacking boxes, shopping at Target and going to parties. Good for you, William and Mary students!

A good starting point for your teenager
Do you have a teenager at home who needs (or wants) to get involved in community service? Check out DoSomething.org and give your kids good ideas and motivation for starting a worthwhile project or club. Very cool.