Liz Flory ’14 and Adrienne Kim ’17 help organize supplies at Emmaus House in Utica during Outreach.
First-Year Orientation Outreach Program
COVE sponsors a four-day pre-orientation service opportunity called Outreach, for first-year students. Outreachers work in small groups on a variety of community projects designed to assist local organizations and agencies with their significant efforts.
Last year, 18 upperclassmen led 32 first-years in service experiences throughout the Hamilton and Utica communities. After each day of service, students reflected on and discussed what their service experience might mean for their impending four years at Colgate. Overall, the program contributed more than 650 hours of service work in the short four-day span.
COVE Brown Bags
COVE Brown Bags are open to all students, staff, and faculty and are a means by which COVE teams seek to increase knowledge and activism on issues related to their service work in the community. These luncheons take place weekly in the COVE lounge, highlighting a wide array of topic areas. During Fiscal Year ’14, we hosted 15 events:
- Passion to Make Change with Dr. Fred Ochieng, Founder of Lwala Community Alliance
- The Science and Impact of Extreme Weather
- Male Perspectives on Sexual Assault at Colgate
- Hunger in Madison County
- The Biology of HIV/AIDS
- The Growing Need for Multicultural Medical Interpreters in America
- Equity and Education
- A Day in the Life of a Madison County EMT
- Aging Across Cultures
- Family Health in Central NY
- A Day in the Life of a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner)
- Should I Consider an MD or a Public Health Degree? With Emily Katz ’09, Boston University School of Public Health
- Advocating for Educational Access with Denniston Reid ’94, Chief Academic Officer at Beginning with Children Foundation
9/11 Day of Service
Last fall, the COVE joined the national network of more than one million Americans who serve their local communities in remembrance of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The event encourages people campus-wide to volunteer in the community as a means of paying tribute to the victims and heroes of 9/11.
Through our service we remember the remarkable way that our nation rose up in unity and service following the tragedy of the attacks. Last September, more than 80 students, staff, and faculty participated in the afternoon, contributing 350 hours of service to 20 local community organizations.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
We think Martin Luther King Jr. Day should be a day on, not a day off. Our goal is to bring people of various ages and backgrounds together to move our local community and nation closer to the “beloved community” that King envisioned.
On January 24, we joined the national commemoration of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy by hosting an MLK afternoon of service. Our students served at various community sites in Hamilton, Madison, Clinton, and Utica. This year, more than 120 volunteers worked at 14 community organizations, combining for 480 total service hours.
“Finding Money for Social Change” Grant Writing Class
In its 9th year, the 12-week, certificate-based grant writing course brought together campus community visionaries, grant writing experts, and local nonprofit leaders to deliver weekly lectures to 36 Colgate students and local community member participants.
At its core, the course offers insight into the architecture of a grant. Concurrent to the weekly lectures, students were paired with six local nonprofits and charged with crafting a preliminary proposal that would serve as the foundation for a fully-formed grant proposal in the near future. By working closely with the nonprofit partners, students were able to see the class theories and lessons play out in real time.
High School Seminar Program
In its 53rd year, the High School Seminar Program continues to use Colgate’s resources to benefit the region by introducing area high school students to college-level topics that are not available at their schools. Meanwhile, it encourages college attendance by providing them with the opportunity to experience a taste of life on a college campus. This year, 13 area schools/programs sent 396 students to participate. During each session, students engaged in three seminars taught by Colgate faculty and staff.
Salvage Program
The COVE staff organizes an effort to repurpose items that students donate in the residence halls at the end of the academic year as they move off-campus. Volunteers spent more than 420 hours collecting and sorting the items in Starr Hockey Rink for pick up by 26 nonprofit organizations located throughout Central New York.
The estimated worth of all salvaged items put into the hands of people who need them amounted to $30,000. Our partner organizations report that the individuals they serve receive much-needed supplies to furnish transitional housing, provide warm clothing and bedding and educational materials, and stock food pantry shelves.