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Latest News - Community Service
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Leadership Students Honor Custodians
If the mark of a true leader is the ability to recognize and draw attention to what others miss, then the students in the Leadership Rice program are coming out gangbusters.
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Dickinson’s Caribbean Vacation
Fourteen Dickenson students will be heading to Jamaica this winter break, repairing hurricane damage to buildings and working with local children.
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Students Walk Against Hunger & Homelessness
Last week’s Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week culminated Saturday in a DC walkathon sponsored by the Fannie May Foundation. George Washington University’s The Hatchet and Georgetown’s paper The Hoya both included coverage of the event.
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A Book For the Hungry
Pissed off at the cost of textbooks AND the plight of the hungry? Check it: students at Brandeis have come up with a way to avoid the wallet-deflating textbook buyback while feeding the hungry.
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Free Hugs
Ok, I admit we missed that fact that Free Hugs was an international movement…which, I suppose, is what we get for neglecting to tape Oprah. Thankfully, the Technician and students of North Carolina State’s Sociology 440 class have caught us up on the significance of this social happening.
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Things Worth Fighting For #467: Chicken Sandwich
Lest we all get too serious, everyone should check out this stunning piece of social change work: Cornell University decided to make The Big Red Barn, a dining spot, into a 5 Star catering company hall.
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Spread the Word
Louisiana State University’s Black Student Union, African-American Culture Center, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity are holding an all-week “Know AIDS” event to educate their campus community on the dangers and transmission of the disease.
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Volunteering, Global
If you’ve spent J-term with refugee children, put your hands in the air! Ok, we know you probably haven’t, but doesn’t it sound good?
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A Place to Pray
The Muslim Student Association at NC State is advocating for prayer room on campus. While there is currently a room designated for prayer in the school’s student union, students say the room is inconveniently located—and not always open.
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Unlikely Bedfellows
Breaking many intra-campus stereotypes with one fell swoop, members of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender people and Allies (LGBTA) Resource Center are uniting to present two educational events to the campus community.
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Giving Back on Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving, 59 students, faculty, and staff from James Madison University celebrated their by helping to rebuild New Orleans.
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Fellowship, Leadership, Scholarship, Service
Doing the double service of feeding the hungry and breaking those pernicious campus stereotypes, members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity at UW Oshkosh have chosen to serve hot meals at a Salvation Army soup kitchen on the first Friday of every month.
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Kick it for the Kids
Next month, Iowa State students will be dancing the night away in order to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network and the Children's Hospital of Iowa.
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Helping Boulder’s Homeless
With Thanksgiving over and several other holidays approaching, we know many students get the itch to do some community service.
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Elves Bring Joy to Local Kids
The 19th annual Operation Santa Clause event had 20 UPenn elves give out 125 gifts at Our Mother of Sorrows School after the original target recipient, Drew Elementary, turned down the offer due to religious concerns.
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Return to New Orleans
While much of the country has put the devastation of New Orleans behind them, students from all over the country traveled there during winter break to help with reconstruction efforts.
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If I Had a Hammer
Dartmouth College’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity has been successful in its bid for their volunteers to earn PE credit.
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Unite for Sight
Boston University pre-med students have united with the pre-optometry club to form a chapter of Unite for Sight, a nonprofit organization that helps to fund corrective eye surgery for people in poverty-stricken areas of the world.
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Commemorating MLK
In the best commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. we’ve heard of (in our humble opinion), more than 200 George Washington Students (plus some other college students) volunteered at the Center for Creative Non-Violence, a D.C. shelter that feeds and cares for as many as 2,500 poor and homeless people a day.
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Boston College Students Help Preserve
Again proving that students may be the demographic group to offer the most post-Katrina relief, a group of 31 Boston College students traveled to Pass Christian Mississippi (our favorite town name ever) to volunteer with Preserve.
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Mothers’ Day
A Howard University gradate student, Brittany Aimee Clay, has created a website that offers religious, educational, and social support for pregnant Howard University women.
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Students Meet to Combat Malaria
Over a dozen Northwestern students joined a videoconference with students in Burkina Faso, Ecuador, and Ghana to discuss the global fight against malaria.
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RISE Up
A group of students from the University of Virginia have launched Project RISE, a peer-counseling organization for black students.
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Waste Not, Want Not
USG Rep. Xavier Chen and Vice-President of the Justice Committee Paul Nappier, along with Loyola’s chapter of Food Not Bombs, are working to decrease the amount of food thrown away at the school.
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Best Buddies Needs Some
Best Buddies is a nonprofit organization that pairs students with mentally challenged adults. At Baylor University, the student group is too small to keep up with the demand for volunteers.
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Students Train Dogs to Aid the Blind
Students at Colorado State University are working with Guide Dogs for the Blind, a nonprofit organization, to train Seeing Eye and Helper guide dogs.
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Louisiana Winter
A group of 100 students from over 20 universities participated in Louisiana Winter, a student project aimed at persuading Congress to pass legislation based on the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project.
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Dancing the Night Away
The University of Iowa dance-a-thon raised over $880,000 for UI Hospitals and Clinics' Children's Hospital and the Children's Miracle Network.
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Students: Sexposed
Students at Muhlenberg College have formed a new student group called Sexposure, an AIDS peer education group that seeks to raise awareness about STDs/STIs and promote good sexual health.
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Me Helping You
Mentoring is big in this week’s news, with articles from Bates College and the University of Georgia both devoting coverage to programs.
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Brown Against Banner
Brown University officials have decided to go ahead with their plan to launch Banner, a database system that would integrate and consolidate data into a single database, despite student criticism on the subject.
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Students Help Local Schools
Education Alliance, a University of Rochester student group, spent a week alerting their campus to programs that help address the needs of Rochester City Schools.
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Share the Love
Students at Purdue University have organized “Share the Love Action Day,” which brings students into the community to volunteer at various organizations.
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One in Four
Students at the University of New Hampshire have started a new group, called One in Four, for students who’ve been touched by eating disorders.
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Group Raises Sexual Health Awareness at BU
Boston University’s student group VOX (Voices for America) is working with Student Health Services (SHS) to start a student run, peer-to-peer, sexual heath information program.
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Women Volunteer More than Men
Boston College’s paper The Heights explores an interesting—and long running—trend: women at Boston College volunteer at a higher rate than men do.
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ArtSwap
Two student artists have planned Vassar’s first ArtSwap, providing the community’s artists with a venue and an audience for their work.
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Students Battle Women’s Cancers
University of Pittsburgh engineering students held a date auction as part of their weeklong efforts to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. At Yale, the student chapter of Colleges Against Cancer is planning to petition for the University to fund HPV vaccinations for all eligible students.
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Chocolate Roses for Pro-Life Group
University of South Carolina students sold homemade chocolate roses last week to benefit Birthright of Columbia, a pro-life organization that counsels pregnant women against abortion in Columbia (the town where USC is located).
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Students Organize Conference on Eating Disorders
Students at the University of Notre Dame organized “Eating Disorders and the Campus Culture,” a forum that explored the relationship between campus life and eating disorders through film, panels, and speakers.
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Homelessness Fair at Denver University
Students at Denver University have the opportunity to volunteer at a career fair for the homeless, which is expected to draw up to 1,000 homeless people to the DU campus.
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Love Your Body
It’s National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and the Bates Eating Awareness Association is holding a Healthy Habits Week in hopes of attracting more interest from students.
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Salvadoran Boy Saved by BU Club Efforts
Boston University’s Rotaract Club, a community service club dedicated to national and international service projects, raised $5,000 over two years for a Salvadoran boy in need of an open-heart operation.
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Habitat for Humanity
A Johns Hopkins student has written a first-hand account of her volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, and Union College's paper features another student's efforts to build a Habitat chapter for that school.
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Students Organize Military Clothing Drive
Members of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Air Force ROTC, along with members of the community, have organized a clothing drive to collect civilian clothes for military personnel who are serving overseas.
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Speed-Read for Books
Pepperdine University hosted a speed-reading contest as part of its Homecoming celebrations. The competition was held to benefit First Books, a non-profit dedicated to distributing books to low-income children.
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Health for Black History Month
The Black Student Union of the University of Rochester is celebrating Black History Month with health awareness initiatives (in addition to the more traditional social and historical offerings).
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Fighting Against Poverty
This editorial from Colgate covers the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness’s 2007 East Coast Student Conference on (you guessed it!) Hunger and Homelessness.
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Bike Winter in Wisconsin
Nearly 50 members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison cycling team are braving the cold to raise money and awareness for the Madison Area Safe Kids Coalition, a group dedicated to transportation safety among children.
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'Dippin' 4 Dollars' a Success
Students at the University of Tennessee worked eight-hour shifts to raise money for the Knoxville Ronald McDonald House.
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Jewish and Muslim Students Team Up for Better Food
Jewish and Muslim students at North Carolina State University-Raleigh are joining forces in asking the University for kosher alternatives to the University's offerings in the dining hall—or a kosher kitchen, which could accommodate both faiths.
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More on New Orleans
Students from Howard and Princeton are working to help the New Orleans housing situation.
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Tax Help from Students
At Syracuse University and Rutgers University, student volunteers with the Beta Alpha Psi accounting honor society are offering free tax help.
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Muslim Awareness Week
UC Irvine’s Muslim Student Association held an Islam Awareness Week for the students of that campus, exploring topics from Qur’anic verse to the role of women in Islam.
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Students Support Women in the Sciences
A student group at Duke University held a daylong event that included speakers, games, and other activities to encourage young girls to consider a career in the sciences.
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Latino Leadership Conference
More than 300 students from across the county gathered at Boston University for the 5th Annual New England Latino Student Leadership Conference.
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Students Tackle Hunger
Students at Iowa State University, the University of Arizona, and UCLA worked to raise awareness—and funds—to combat hunger this week.
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Appalachia Volunteers
The 600 Appalachia Volunteers of Boston College will head out next week to 36 locations across the southeast. This article from BC's paper explores the motives of the participants, the program’s price, and the social scene that surrounds the Appalachia Volunteers.
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The Meaning of Katrina
Beginning with a commendable exploration of student activism in the ongoing Gulf Coast crisis, the author of this editorial goes on to consider the less impressive insertion of Goucher College’s student body into the myriad needs of Baltimore. He also proposes and adopts one possible solution—namely, a run for student government.
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Hope in the Business of Baskets
Students from Washington University in St. Louis will be traveling to the African nation of Madagascar this spring break, working to promote environmental conservation by introducing workable business models to rural basket weavers.
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Morphing Technology Lets Students Examine Race
In an attempt to demonstrate that race is socially constructed (rather than a biological fact), students in Boston University’s group Hug Don't Hate have arranged for their fellow students to use the Human Race Machine.
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Students Raise Money For School in Cambodia
The Protect the Environment, Protect Yourself (PEPY Ride) organization at Notre Dame held a fundraising dinner last week to raise the last $1,000 needed to build a school in an impoverished area of Cambodia.
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Student Group Honors Those Who Give Back
Washington State University’s Black Student Union held their Unity Banquet to honor those working behind the scenes in WSU’s multicultural community. About 70 students attended the banquet, which is held yearly at the close of Black History Month.
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Dancing for Dollars
Dance marathons proved to be the fundraiser of choice for students this week.
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Habitat For Humanity
Two Duke students led the effort to raise $50,000 to build a house as part of Habitat for Humanity's Youth United initiative.
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Killing Two (Metaphorical) Birds
New York University students and administration have teamed up to create a program that donates leftover food from the school's dining halls to local homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
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Getting to Know You
Students from SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry and Syracuse University are traveling to Turkey on an interfaith expedition. On a lighter note, a multicultural organization at the University of North Carolina organized a fashion show to raise cultural awareness.
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Dress Upon A Star
Students at Muhlenberg College's chapter of Dress Upon A Star are involved in heavy planning for this year's event, which will be held later in the spring. Dress Upon A Star is a project that provides dresses to low-income young women to wear at prom or other spring dances.
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Coaching for a Cause
Students at the University of Arizona volunteer as coaches in the Associated Students of the University of Arizona youth basketball league, which pairs the volunteers with teams of at-risk youth for a month-long program that is free of charge.
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Open Season
Events at campuses across the country worked toward eliminating stereotypes and misunderstandings between racial, religious, and sexual groups.
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Mental Health Check
From legislative changes to features about students who struggle with mental health disorders, several campus papers touched upon campus mental health this past week.
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Student to Run 700 Miles For Charity
Kalyn Jolivette, an Ohio State sophomore, plans to spend August traveling on foot to each of Ohio's 88 counties, a trip of more than 700 miles. She wants to raise awareness of the disease Cystic Fibrosis.
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Student Groups Help Educate for Middle East Peace
Two graduate students at American University have formed the Council on Middle Eastern Studies. UCLA’s Bruins for Israel and United Arab Society united to bring OneVoice, a grassroots Israeli-Palestinian peace group, to their campus.
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Alternative Spring Break
Students nationwide are spending their spring breaks on service-oriented trips, ranging from house building in the still devastated Gulf Coast to volunteering in Caribbean orphanages. In Texas, students are holding an Alternative Spring Break of a political bent.
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Spiritualism/Activism
Stereotypically, religion is considered to be antithetical to most college students’ educational experiences. Articles from Macalester College and Wayne State University undercut the assumption, however.
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Anonymous (and Free) HIV Testing
The Queer Alliance and the Global Alliance to Immunize against AIDS at Brown University offered free and anonymous HIV testing last week at the school's women's center.
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Bike Activism
A Clemson University student will spend her summer biking across the country, Virginia to Oregon, in an attempt to raise awareness of affordable housing issues. Students with Macalester College’s Mac Bike are using the bike to address issues of gender inequality.
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Help for the Homeless
Students with the Campus Crusade for Christ at Mount Hood Community College are collecting blankets, hats, gloves, scarves, coats, sweatshirts, backpacks, and new socks for the homeless. The Leonard Carmichael Society, Tufts University’s largest student-led organization, held a dinner and auction fundraiser for the Somerville Homeless Coalition.
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More Alternative Spring Break
Kansas State University students are heading to New Orleans, Omaha, Chicago, and Dallas as volunteers with Christian Challenge, Campus Crusade for Christ, and K-State's Community Service Program. Over 300 students from St. Joseph’s University traveled to Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia on Appalachian Experience service trips.
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Students Work to Carry Katrina Momentum
Hoping to carry the momentum and enthusiasm of students working in New Orleans this spring break, students across the country are working to create a Post-Katrina Summit April 9-14.
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College Student Starts Prom Charity
Abby England, a University of Oregon senior, founded Abby’s Closet: a non-profit organization that accepts and donates used prom dresses to girls who can’t afford them.
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Students Shed For Locks of Love
Students at Brown University cut their hair for the nonprofit organization Locks of Love, which provides wigs for low-income children who’ve lost their hair to medical treatments.
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UC Davis Students Spread Jewish Culture
The Jewish Student Union and Hillel at UC Davis staged a Jewish Culture Week in which students held a mock marriage and a Shabbat ceremony to raise awareness of Jewish culture.
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Peace for Northeastern
At Northeastern University, various student groups, together with the Spiritual Life Center, are holding Peace Week.
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Southern Service
Thirty Guilford College students spent their spring break in North Carolina rebuilding houses destroyed in a November tornado. Twenty-two University of Rhode Island students are meeting up with 190 other students (and Habitat for Humanity) in Slidell, Louisiana this week.
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Volunteerism for Credit?
Thousands of students have headed to service locations during their spring break; some of them get course credit for their venture, others do not. Is there a difference between them?
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Celebrating Diverse Cultures
Students at Brigham Young University kicked off Heritage Week, a celebration of the diverse cultures of the student body, with a show that featured performances from about 17 countries. A day-long International Students Day was held at the University of Missouri Rolla.
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Blood Bank
Student volunteers at SUNY Stony Brook are working with the school's Hospital Blood Bank to raise awareness of blood donation and to get students to donate blood.
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Students Give Kids a Jumpstart
A group of students at Northeastern University has been volunteering with Jumpstart, a program that helps to ensure that every preschooler gets the early individual attention they need to succeed in school.
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Dancing for Dollars (Again)
Students at the University of Utah will participate in a dance marathon to raise money for cancer research.
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Pagans Speak Out
The Religious Studies Student Club partnered with the Fox Valley Pagan Unity Council at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh to hold an event to dispel some of the myths that surround the Pagan religion.
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Giving a Break
Alternative Spring Break news just keeps going; articles this week illuminate trips from Boston College, Boston University, and SUNY Stony Brook.
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Tour Tackles Homosexuality in Christianity
Soulforce is a tour of young gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people who promote the idea that homosexuality is not inconsistent with religious faith. The Soulforce team (which includes students) made a stop at the Baptist school Baylor University this week.
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Volunteers Record Textbooks for Peers
Students at Rice University are volunteering their time for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFBD), a national organization that provides recordings of textbooks for blind and dyslexic students.
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Helping the Community that Surrounds
Alternative Spring Break trips focus our attention on students who travel long distances for short-term service. But all over the country, college students help the communities where they live on an ongoing basis, tackling issues from literacy to homelessness.
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Spring Break Keeps On Keepin’ On
Students from two University of Southern California groups—USC Hillel and USC's NAACP chapter—traveled to Covington, LA, to work on a Habitat for Humanity project. Ten students from Rutgers University traveled with seven George Washington University students to Nicaragua.
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Biking for Those Who Can't
Eight fraternity members at Texas Christian University will travel around the country by bike on a service-oriented trip that will raise funds for disabled people and provide opportunities for fraternity brothers to interact with those their ride will benefit.
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Book Drive For Young Readers
The Aggie Book Club at Texas A&M University held a book drive for the Twin City Missions, the Boys and Girls Club, and various hospices and local hospitals, in order to promote reading.
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Safe Sex Spiced Up
The Black Student Alliance at Colorado State University held a game night where students participated in safe-sex themed games to raise awareness of the rapid spread of HIV and other STDs in the black community.
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Students Raise Thousands for Charities
Students walked, ran, danced, held a basketball tournament, hosted a game show, and held a pie-eating-and-pudding-wrestling contest in order to raise money for various charitable causes.
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Serving (and Learning About the People You Serve)
More than 60 student groups at Baylor University will participate in Steppin’ Out Day, performing various community services in an effort to get outside the “Baylor Bubble.” Students in a history class at Southern Methodist University volunteer at a homeless shelter as part of their course.
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Exploring Faith (Or Lack Thereof)
A feature from Binghamton University looks at campus spirituality, while students at the University of Nebraska sat on a panel to discuss atheism.
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Spring Break With a Twist
Spring break season is still in full swing as more students participate in Alternative Spring Break (ASB).
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Watching the Neighborhood
The Langdon Street Neighborhood Watch, a student-organized watch program in Madison, WI, kicked off its spring season last week with a student patrol.
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Students Volunteer for a Day
Students at Indiana University worked with the Indiana Public Interest Research Group and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness to volunteer their services in various places in Bloomington.
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Against Sexual Violence
Students around the country battled sexual violence this week through marches, vigils, banners, rallies, and student senate resolutions.
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Back to the Big Easy
Howard University's Alternative Spring Break program gathered more than 500 students to participate in service projects. Students from Bates College headed to Biloxi to do service work. A former Tulane student relates his post-Katrina experiences in a feature from the University of New Hampshire.
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Religion on the Rise
Campus articles continue to focus on issues of spirituality and religion this week, reporting both on general trends and specific groups.
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Students Help Africa, Latin America
Students across the country participated in service projects and fundraising for charitable organizations connected to the developing world, particularly Africa and Latin America.
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Students Fight Hunger with Can Art
The Society for Design Administration is holding the national program “Canstruction,” a competition where students use canned foods as building blocks for art.
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Money For Life
Students continued a wave of fundraising events to benefit research on various illnesses.
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Community, Identity
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Allied Union at the University of Iowa held its second-ever Queer Prom. Transgender activists at the University of Michigan hailed the University's decision to allow students to use their preferred name instead of their legal name.
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Students Volunteer at Service Day
More than 800 volunteers showed up despite the rain last week to participate in a service day at Iowa State University. tudents at the University of Nebraska also braved the rain to volunteer at almost 70 different locations in the Big Event.
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Homeless Lecture Students
Helene Kahn, a member of Hillel's Tzedek and Social Action Committee, brought former homeless individuals to speak about their experiences to Syracuse University students through The National Coalition for the Homeless.
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Cleaning Up the ‘Hood
Ohio State University students cleaned off-campus streets with gloves and garbage bags as part the Clean Sweep program, an Undergraduate Student Government effort to keep the area clean and make students proud of their community.
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Students Celebrate Culture
Native American students at the University of Kansas hosted the 19th annual powwow for Native American tribes across the United States, hoping the event will help students celebrate their culture and share it with others.
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Are You Going To the Sex/Gender Fair?
Fairs promoting feminism, safe sex, and sex education were organized at Arizona State University, Penn State University, and the University of Chicago.
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Students "Take Back the Night"
Take Back the Night events were held this week at Tufts University, Notre Dame University, and the University of Washington.
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Confessions of a Christian
The Real Life Christian group at the University of California Santa Barbara has started a weeklong campaign to raise awareness of the wrongs that are perpetuated in the name of Christianity and “Christian values.”
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Homeless for a Night
Iowa State students faced cold wind and sleet while trying to bring more attention to a growing homeless problem.
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Tragedy at Virginia Tech
The shooting deaths of 32 at Virginia Tech and the suicide of the student gunman have resonated on campuses across the nation, uniting student communities in grief, empathy, shock, and prayer.
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Students Speak Out Against Sexual Assault
Students at North Carolina State University, George Washington University, Indiana University, Iowa State University, the University of Alabama, and UMass Boston held events against sexual violence and in support of sexual assault survivors.
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Relay For Life
Relay for Life events are going strong at campuses across the nation, helping to raise money for cancer research.
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In Defense of Action
On the heels of a similar event at the University of California Santa Barbara, Christian students at Washington State University have offered their apologies for misrepresenting the teachings of Jesus. An editorial from JMU’s paper defends a CRU campus campaign.
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Gay Campus
A student activist at Notre Dame University was threatened with immediate suspension for his participation in a SoulForce Equality Ride demonstration. Students at Kenyon College and Middlebury College are dealing with homophobic vandalism at each of their campuses.
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Students Give Back
Stories from Texas Christian University, Duke University, and Colorado State University show student giving back to their communities.
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Celebrating First Nations
The First Nations at the University of Washington will sponsor the University's largest student organized event, the Spring Powwow, which will feature dancing, singing, and drumming in a celebration of Native American culture.
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Sealed Lips
Students at the University of Washington, the University of Arizona, and Indiana University participated in the Day of Silence, not speaking for a day to raise awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues.
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Holocaust Victims Remembered
Students across the country observed Yom HaShoa, a month of the Hebrew calendar that coincides with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. With lit candles and yellow Stars of David, students read out loud names of victims to “give them their identities, which were taken from them during the Holocaust.”
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Students To Help Local Boy
Three students at Purdue University are trying to raise $250,000 to build a climate-controlled pool for a local boy. The 5-year-old suffers from a rare and dangerous disorder that causes him not to feel any pain.
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Volunteer Week
For a second year Volunteer Week will recognize people who have given their time and skills to help others. Many college students participate in service-oriented projects, including Alternative Spring Breaks. This year’s Volunteer Week theme is “Lead by Example.”
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Students Call For Eating Disorder Support
Students at Pomona College are asking for more assistance from the school for students with eating disorders, as well as a more visible program to raise awareness of the disorders.
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Student Rides Century for Cancer
A student at Vanderbilt University rode more than 100 miles in a Rally Across America event. Rally Across America is an organization, founded by a recent Vanderbilt graduate, which raises money for cancer research through cycling events.
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Food for Fines
Looking for a service program to institute on campus? An article from St. John’s explains that school’s Food for Fines program.
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Students Care For Orphaned Kittens
Veterinary students and members of the Orphan Kitten Project at the University of Minnesota work with the Humane Society in the Twin Cities to foster very young, sick kittens and hopefully, nurse them back to health.
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Things You Should Just Know
If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a rape victim opts for a physical exam and evidence collection after a sexual assault, thank the staff of the Daily Evergreen at Washington State University for clarifying the process.
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Jagged Little Pill
University of New Mexico students on oral contraceptives will have an easier time affording their medication thanks to the student group Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Justice.
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1,000 Cranes for VaTech
The Japanese Student Association at Colorado State University is making 1,000 paper cranes for the students of Virginia Tech. According to legend, after making 1,000 paper cranes, a wish will come true; the JSA is wishing for relief for the victims at Virginia Tech.
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Dancing in Chairs
The Ballroom Dance Team at the University of Delaware is working with the American DanceWheels Foundation to teach ballroom dance classes to those in wheelchairs.
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Students Strut Their Stuff for Charity
Students from the Voice for Asia group at Northwestern University held a fashion show last week to raise money to benefit UNICEF and the China Care Foundation. The money will help to support AIDS orphans in China.
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Fighting Fire
Students at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign have trained to become a part of the Carroll Fire Protection District, the volunteer fire department in northern Urbana.
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Hokies United Looks to Future at VaTech
Hokies United, a student support group at Virginia Tech University, is working to provide a bright future for the students of Virginia Tech through vigils, events, and fundraising for the Hokie Spirit Memorial fund in the wake of the tragedy at the school.
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Student Parents Catch A Break
Student parents at the University of Minnesota spent a day speaking with their high school counterparts as part of a way to raise the visibility of parents on campus.
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Students Re-Create Homelessness
Students at Boston University’s Habitat for Humanity slept in cardboard boxes camping out for a total of 13 hours. The group wanted to bring more attention to the issue of homelessness and collected donations to help. The group itself has grown this year to nearly 60 members.
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A Day in the Life
The Dartmouth, Dartmouth University's student newspaper, examines the difficulties of being a transgender student on campus. The article is the first in a three-part series to elucidate the experiences of transgender students on campus.
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Students Help Elderly
A BYU NewsNet article examines the increase in Brigham Young University students who spend their time volunteering to help the community's elderly population.
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Examining Homelessness
An article from Cornell University investigates the homelessness epidemic as it plays out in Tompkins County, New York. Two graduate students at the University of Kansas have organized a demonstration to raise awareness of violence against the homeless.
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Outreach Programs Face Budget Cuts
At the University of California Los Angeles, student outreach programs that provide community service to Los Angeles are facing budget cuts this summer.
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Go Girl Go!
A Daily Northwestern article profiles a DePaul University student who runs the GoGirlGo! Program, in which teen issues and exercise are discussed in an effort to motivate young women at a local middle school to stay active.
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Silhouette Panhandlers
An ad campaign aiming to decrease panhandling and help the homeless has received mixed reviews in Lincoln Nebraska.
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From Hollywood to the Motor City
Students at the University of Southern California have launched a project to help economically disadvantaged communities, highlight modern segregation, and create a philanthropic network on college campuses.
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Students serve communities in a variety of ways
The semester is just beginning, but students are already volunteering and raising money for a variety of good causes using diverse methods – from picking up trash around the Campustown neighborhood to putting out a shirtless men’s calendar for relay for life.
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Students celebrate meat
Desiring to “give a face” to the farming industry, the Block and Bridle club at Penn State held a meat-out on world vegetarian day.
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Students remember Gandhi with Service
October 6th was “Gandhi Day of Service,” and students turned out to serve their communities. At the University of Miami, Florida, over 1,300 students dedicated their Saturday to activities such as cleaning up waterways and spending time with sick kids.
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Fast-a-thon
Muslim Student Associations across the country are inviting non-Muslims to learn about Ramadan by fasting for a day.
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Cans, cans, cans
Student and community organizations around Colorado State combined to collect over 120,000 pounds of canned food for the county food bank.
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Fashion show for AIDS awareness
Students at Texas A&M took a novel approach to raising AIDS awareness: students modeled current fashions from local merchants in front of a slide-show presenting AIDS facts and myths.
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Phone drive to aid victims of domestic violence
The Alpha Chi Omega Sorority at the University of Alabama teamed up with Verizon to run a drive on campus to collect out-of-use cell phones. Once collected, the phones were re-furbished or recycled, and the proceeds from sales are used to provide free phones and air-time to victims of domestic violence.
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Students raise money for breast cancer
October was host to another, less controversial, awareness event: Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Students across the country participated primarily through fundraising for breast cancer research and support organizations
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Dump ‘n run
Every year, student volunteers at Cornell collect items otherwise thrown out by students as they move out in May and sell them to students returning in the fall, donating the proceeds to charity.
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SPRING BREAK SERVICE
Spring Break is months away but students at the University of Kentucky are already planning spring break service trips in neighboring Tennessee and Georgia.
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Student Promotes Sexual Health
Last spring Theresa Schwanke, a junior at Cornell, co-founded the Society for HPV Education and Prevention (SHEP) to educate Cornell women about the Human papillomavirus, a diverse group of viruses that may cause cervical cancer and genital warts in women.
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Campus and Community Unite
Students at Union College in Schenectady NY have formed the Union-Schenectady Alliance in an effort to revitalize the college town.
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Students Cook to Fight Cancer
Students at Northwestern University held a Dance Marathon Top Chef Competition to benefit the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation.
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Relay for Life Kicks Off
Real for Life, an event supported by the American Cancer Society, is kicking off its annual recruitment drive.
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Greeks Organize Multicultural Marrow Drive
Virginia Tech’s Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority have teamed up with the National Bone Marrow Program and are holding a bone marrow registry drive on campus in an effort to recruit minority donors.
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Students Help Open Community Center
Last fall The Waltham Housing Authority in Waltham Massachusetts approved the opening of the Prospect Hill Terrace Community Center after local tenants, with the help of Brandeis University students, advocated for it.
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Brain Drain
A Binghamton University student has been appointed to a new coalition tasked with developing solutions for “brain drain,” the growing pattern of local college graduates leaving the area to seek careers elsewhere.
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Nightlife for a Cause
Nightlife For A Cause, a new event-coordinating company at the University of Southern California held its first promotional event at the end of January.
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Students Raise Big Bucks for Dance Marathon
Students at Pennsylvania State University organized the "Target 10 Challenge,” aimed at drawing 10,000 students to a recent men’s basketball game against Ohio State University and donate all the proceeds from ticket purchases to Dance Marathon, a charity to help children with cancer.
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Alternative Spring Breaks
This March, student members of Carnegie Mellon’s Alternative Break program will travel to a reserve on the coast of Ecuador to do environmental work, work in local schools, build a fence to protect the reserve and volunteer at a local hospital.
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HIV/AIDS Retreat
Marquette University held its annual AIDS/HIV Awareness Retreat last week. The retreat, organized by the Office of Community Service and the HIV/AIDS advocacy group Watumishi: People of Service, offered students a unique insight into the problem of AIDS and HIV in Milwaukee.
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National Condom Week Meets Valentine’s Day
Sex Out Loud, a student organization at the University of Wisconsin devoted to improving sexual health awareness through education, is hosting a series of events to celebrate National Condom Week from Feb. 14-21.
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Dance Marathon
Campuses across the country raised money for Dance Marathon, a national campaign aimed at raising funds for local charities, particularly children’s funds.
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University of Washington Opens Student-run Community Clinic
The University of Washington has opened a student-run clinic in south Seattle to make health care more accessible to Seattle residents. At the Al-Shifa Clinic community members can receive free medical care while a team of 10 medical students and 20 undergraduates gain valuable experience. A board of faculty oversees the clinic’s operations and a board of community members ensures that the clinic meets the community’s needs. Tipu Khan, a fourth-year graduate student in medicine and the clinic’s board president and director, got the idea for the Al-Shifa Clinic from his undergraduate studies at the University of California at Davis. UC Davis has six similar clinics, and provided a successful model for the Al-Shifa clinic. The name “Al-Shifa” means “the cure” in Arabic, and is geared toward Seattle’s Muslim population, though all are welcome. Read more from the University of Washington
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Relay for Life
Colleges Against Cancer kicked off its annual Relay for Life campaign at the University of Illinois-Champaign.
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A Week of Love…and Lovin’
As Valentine’s Day came and went, students commemorated the day of love with more than roses and chocolate.
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Highly Decorated Community Servers
For the fourth year in a row, Mills College’s Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation Department (APER) won the Jostens Community Service Award for their participation in the Cyclone Kickoff, a day spent cleaning and refurbishing Havenscourt Middle School in Oakland, CA.
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Special Olympic Swim
This week Ohio University will hold the first Polar Bear Plunge: Freezin’ For a Reason 2008 to benefit the Ohio Special Olympics.
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Locks of Love
The Alumni Scholars Club held UCLA’s first ever “Locks of Love” donation event, at which campus community members receive free haircuts in exchange for donating their hair to produce wigs for disadvantaged children with long-term hair loss.
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Health Hearts for Valentine’s Day
In honor of The American Heart Association’s Wear Red Day, held annually on February 1st to promote heart health as part of American Heart Month, the University of Rochester and the University of Indiana held events to promote healthy hearts.
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“A Party with a Purpose”
The University of Washington’s South Asian Student Association (SASA) is asking students to party to promote children’s education in India.
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Athletes Perform Off the Field for Charity
The University of Michigan held its 9th annual Mock Rock competition, in which university athletes perform stage acts to raise money for the C.S Mott Children’s Hospital.
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Duke Students Revive Rural Clinic
The Fremont People’s Clinic in Fremont, North Carolina was re-opened six months ago after two years thanks to a group of Duke University students.
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Cook-off for Healthcare
Florida State’s class of 2011 is hosting a cook-off on February 23rd. Medical school faculty, staff, and students will compete in a chili competition to win one of several titles, including Best Overall, Spiciest, Meatiest, Best Vegetarian, Most Creative, You Gave It Your Best Shot, and Most Likely To Cause G.I. Problems.
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Beads for Uganda
The Association of Black Business Students at the University of Washington sold beads last week to raise money for Bead for Life, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating poverty in Uganda.
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Body IMAGE
Last week Vanderbilt University’s student organization IMAGE held their annual education week on campus.
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Nothing But Nets
Susquehanna University has joined a worldwide campaign to protect African children from malaria.
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Nothing But Nets
Susquehanna University has joined a worldwide campaign to protect African children from malaria.
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Fraternity Against Rape
The University of Maine’s Beta Theta Pi chapter held their 15th annual Sleep-Out Against Rape last weekend to show support for rape victims.
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Student Activist Receives National Recognition
Mark Dlugash, a 20-year-old sophomore at Swarthmore College, is the co-founder of the Global Health Forum, a nonpartisan, educational organization that raises awareness on global health issues such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, poverty, and violence.
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Pledge and Plunge
As part of a fundraiser, Special Olympics members and supporters showed up to cheer for Northwestern University students who jumped into Lake Michigan, raising over $40,000.
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Dance ‘Till You’re Blue
Students at the University of Kentucky held their annual fundraiser for UK’s Children’s Hospital Pediatric Oncology Unit: a 24-hour dance marathon known as DanceBlue.
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Community Improvement Project
About 2,000 students from the University of Texas spent last Saturday picking up trash and planting gardens in East Austin for Project 2008, a community beautification event.
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Kicking Butts
The Residence Hall Association at Louisiana State teamed up with student group Gays, Bisexuals, Lesbians and Supporters United to work on a campaign called Kick the Butt.
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Swimmers Like Mike
University of Southern California Greek councils came together last week to hold a black-tie fundraiser for Swim with Mike and the Interfraternity Parents Council Scholarship Fund.
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Vagina Monologues Lead to Dialogue
Law students at the University of New Mexico put on the popular performance piece "The Vagina Monologues," to raise money for women in need.
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Howard Students to the Rescue
Howard University students are gearing up for their third annual Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip to New Orleans.
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Fast-a-thon
Harvard University’s Islamic Society recently held its annual Fast-A-Thon, a day-long initiative to raise money for Save the Children’s Hunger and Malnutrition program.
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Books for Africa
An Indiana University junior has organized a book drive in Bloomington on behalf of Books for Africa, a non-profit organization that collects used textbooks to send to African libraries in need.
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Students Voting for Charity
Two Indiana University student charity organizations, Camp Kesem and IU Dance Marathon, are participating in the GrabLife GiveLife, a national fundraising competition that rewards $20,000 to the winning charity event.
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Date Auction for Children
Students at the University of Minnesota held their annual Date Auction, an event hosted by the Business Association of Multicultural Students and the Minnesota International Student Center.
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A Whole New World With New Life
A group of students from the University of Washington are starting a new chapter of the New Life Volunteering Society (NLVS), a growing national and secular nonprofit organization that focuses on helping those in need including the homeless, the hungry, the disabled and underprivileged children.
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Thinking Outside the Break
Students involved in the Mountain Justice Spring Break (MJSB) program at Florida State University will soon be spending their vacation days working against the coal industry in the Appalachian Mountains.
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A Variety Show for AIDS
The University of Alabama chapter of Alpha Psi Omega sorority recently held their annual West Alabama AIDS Outreach Benefit to raise money for the West Alabama AIDS Outreach.
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Mitzvah Madness
Student Robert Beiser, the social justice coordinator of Hillel at the University of Washington, has teamed up with students in Hillel’s justice group, Tzedek UW, to create a month-long volunteering competition called Mitzvah Madness, in which participants enter their volunteer hours to win prizes.
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CASH From Students
University of Virginia student Deborah Perl recently started a group called Creating Assets, Saving, and Hope (CASH) to help low-income families in Charlottesville prepare their taxes and collect refunds.
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RollAIDS: Not for Indigestion
In early March the AIDS Awareness Committee of the Student Welfare Commission at UCLA hosted RollAIDS, its annual disco-themed roller-skating fundraiser.
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Brothers Journey Across the Country For Hope
Two Pi Kappa Phi brothers from the University of Tennessee will spend their summer cycling nearly 4,000 miles from San Diego to the front lawn of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington for Journey of Hope, a cross-country bicycle trek to raise awareness for the disabled.
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Bikers Build Homes and Awareness
30 Boston University students will spend over two months this summer biking from Rhode Island to Washington State for Bike and Build, a charity organization aimed at ending sub-standard housing.
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Manly Care Packages
Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity recently held its third biannual "Bringing Home to the Troops" donation drive to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war.
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Keys for Hope
James Madison freshman Bennett Resnick is the co-founder of a new nonprofit organization, Key for Hope. Key for Hope collects unused keys, melts them down and sells the metal to recycling companies to raise money for health care facilities in southern Africa.
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Women Helping Women
Louisiana State University recently held their first Women's History Month community service project. A group of female students painted, cleaned and landscaped a local shelter for homeless women and children called the Sweet Dreams Shelter.
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ROTC More Than Stereotypes
Five Sacramento State Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets saved a life on August 30 while out on a leisure trip at Feather River outside of Nicolaus, California.
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Empowering the Voiceless
The Harvard Square Homeless Shelter recently hosted its opening dinner to inaugurate the beginning of its active season from November 15 to April 15.
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A Day of Awareness
December 1 was global AIDS Awareness Day and schools across the country helped to raise awareness and spread support for individuals living with HIV/AIDS.
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Not-So-Typical Fraternity
Greek life is not a part of everyone’s college experience, but at certain campuses, such as the University of Texas-Austin, it can feel like “go Greek or go home”. Some students, such as senior Russell van Kraayenburng, don’t necessarily find the best fit in Greek offerings. Kraayenburng and his friends decided to make their own home at UT by starting UT Austin’s first Gay and Bisexual fraternity.
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Snowball Fight Ends in Arrest, Makes National News
Its not everyday that a snowball fight makes national news, but that is precisely what happened when a snowball fight at East Carolina University ended with students being pepper sprayed and arrested.
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Students Raise Funds to Fight Cancer
Students at multiple universities organized and participated in the annual “Rally for Life” events to support the American Cancer Society. Events at Drake University, Dickenson College, Rider University and Elizabethtown College alone raised more than $175,000 and involved hundreds of students.
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Charity Fills the Air at Northwestern
For 26 hours last weekend, the music didn't stop at Northwestern University. The University's Bienen School of Music's Student Advisory Board raised more than $15,000 for a tuition-free Chicago music school for children at the Music Marathon event.
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UNH Students Live of $2 a Day, Raise Money and Awareness of Poverty
In an effort to raise awareness about global poverty, the Politics and Society Club at the University of New Hampshire-Manchester challenged students to live off a food budget of $2 a day. The club also asked participating students to raise money for their choice of a local or regional charity and attend a panel discussion about poverty and hunger.
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Food Not Bombs Faces Injunction, Heavy Fines
Despite a court injunction and thousands in fines, students with Food Not Bombs at the University of New Mexico intend to continue serving free vegetarian meals twice a week outside the school bookstore.
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Tent City Coming to the UW?
University of Washington students and faculty are proposing that the latest site for the Seattle area’s “Tent City,” a temporary home for up to 100 people experiencing homelessness, be the UW campus.
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Students Find Alternatives to Summer Jobs
As the overall unemployment rate increases, college students across the country have seen a significant drop in the number of jobs and paying internships available for the summer.
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Temple Students Join Service Immersion Program
Students working with Temple’s Student Activities’ Service Immersion Program will volunteer in nursing homes and shelters to take on issues of urban poverty, sustainable development, and homelessness.
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Gannon University GIVE’s Back to the Community
Community service is as popular as ever with students at Gannon University, where on Saturday they launched a cross-country project called GIVE day that set up opportunities for students and alumni to volunteer in cities from Chicago to Buffalo.
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IUP Students Send Shoes to Haitian Children
Student organizers at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania began a “Shoes for Haiti” campaign to provide Haitian schoolchildren aged 7 to 18 with much-needed shoes that will be delivered April 15, 2010.
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Miami Students “Stand Up” Against Poverty
On October 14th, student organizers from igKnite, the student organization of the Knight Center for International Media at the University of Miami, hosted a “Stand Up and Take Action” event to fight global poverty.
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