PND (4/25/2000) -- Colleges Expand Public Service Offerings

In the wake of eBay founder Pierre Omdiyar's $10 million donation to Tufts University, the Medford, Massachusetts-based school has become one of many universities to add a public service curriculum to its offerings, the New York Times reports.

Hundreds of colleges across the U.S. are re-emphasizing public service as a central part of their curriculum in an attempt to spark a sense of civic responsibility in their undergraduates. Since his arrival in 1992, Tufts' president John DiBiaggio has made several changes at the school designed to inspire students to become more involved in public service projects. DiBiaggio, who is also the chairman of Campus Compact, a national organization devoted to community service, rewrote the school's vision statement to include goals such as "an attitude of giving back" and "a desire to make the world a better place."

Course catalogs at the 670 institutions affiliated with Campus Compact include "service learning" opportunities, in which students apply academic principles to real-world problems. Many colleges are also forging partnerships with leaders in surrounding communities to work on issues such as affordable housing and pollution. And last year, 300 university presidents signed a declaration urging higher education institutions to re-examine their "public purposes and commitment to "the democratic ideal."

"It is not enough to provide a great education," noted University of Pennsylvania president Judith Rodin at a recent Yale University lecture. "It is not enough for us to produce brilliant, imaginative doctors, lawyers, scholars, and scientists who will press the envelopes of their disciplines or professions, if we do not also engage them in the larger issues of our day, in the ferment of our times and our society."

Wilgoren, Jodi. "Public Service's Profile Is Rising in Many College Curriculums." New York Times 4/24/2000.

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