2008 Woodie Awards
The Greyhound Editorial: Cultivating a service generation
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Opinion
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This week, John Dougherty reported on a park owned by St. Vincent De Paul Church, a place that lends some semblance of home for many of those experiencing homelessness in Baltimore. Colloquially known as "Bum Park," every Monday and Tuesday night Loyola students make sandwiches and drinks and deliver them to the homeless there. Run by Loyola's Center for Service and Justice, this program is known as Care-A-Van, and it is just one of many service projects that Loyola students give their time to every year. Along with Care-A-Van, students are coming out in ever growing numbers to do Project Mexico, Encounter El Salvador, and Spring Break Outreach, to name only a few.
The Greyhound would like to highlight the important work these programs are doing, and encourage students who have not already participated in such service to do so now, and to continue doing so. Loyola's service-oriented community distinguishes its students as men and women for others, a fulfillment of the quotidian Jesuit mantra for forging its students into better, more well rounded individuals. Even more, students' service speaks to an even larger and more important movement that is taking place as we speak. New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman, coined the college age students of today as "Generation Q," or the Quiet Americans. Today's college students may not be as politically active or vocal as their parents or grandparents, he argues. Instead, they silently pursue their idealism "at home and abroad" through service programs like "Teach for America.," and "Habitat for Humanity."
What makes this distinction important is the sense of mission and purpose we as students must focus on in order address the problems facing our generation. Not only does our service help to relieve poverty and bring about justice, but the kind of service Loyola students are doing now also prepares them for leading the tough fights we have ahead. Social Security, global warming, and energy crises are realities our generation will have to deal with first; indeed, we may not be able to ignore their results as today's leaders have, because we will feel them the most. The service students do now, through CCSJ and other such programs, will be integral to forming the kind of leaders and citizens needed to truly affect what is ailing our society. To once again quote Friedman's column, The Greyhound calls on "students to roll up their sleeves and dive in deeper than ever."
The Greyhound would like to highlight the important work these programs are doing, and encourage students who have not already participated in such service to do so now, and to continue doing so. Loyola's service-oriented community distinguishes its students as men and women for others, a fulfillment of the quotidian Jesuit mantra for forging its students into better, more well rounded individuals. Even more, students' service speaks to an even larger and more important movement that is taking place as we speak. New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman, coined the college age students of today as "Generation Q," or the Quiet Americans. Today's college students may not be as politically active or vocal as their parents or grandparents, he argues. Instead, they silently pursue their idealism "at home and abroad" through service programs like "Teach for America.," and "Habitat for Humanity."
What makes this distinction important is the sense of mission and purpose we as students must focus on in order address the problems facing our generation. Not only does our service help to relieve poverty and bring about justice, but the kind of service Loyola students are doing now also prepares them for leading the tough fights we have ahead. Social Security, global warming, and energy crises are realities our generation will have to deal with first; indeed, we may not be able to ignore their results as today's leaders have, because we will feel them the most. The service students do now, through CCSJ and other such programs, will be integral to forming the kind of leaders and citizens needed to truly affect what is ailing our society. To once again quote Friedman's column, The Greyhound calls on "students to roll up their sleeves and dive in deeper than ever."
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