Civic Engagement
The Honors Program encourages students to actively participate in civic engagement here on campus, in the larger Boston community, and beyond. Activities range in scope from sponsoring events on campus, episodic volunteer opportunities in the Boston community, and weekly volunteer commitments off campus. These activities provide opportunities for students to strengthen their commitment to service, enhance their leadership skills and open the door to philanthropic activities while on campus. Close ties with the Center of Community Service opens the door to many of the chances to serve the Northeastern and Boston community.
Honors Outreach Project
Three hundred and thirty first-year Honors students. Thirty upper class group leaders. Seventeen sites. Eighteen hundred hours of community service. One day. All of these numbers add up to the first ever Honors Outreach Project that occurred during this year’s Honors Program Welcome Week. On the Saturday after classes began in September, the first-year students all donned their red Welcome Week T-shirts and met in the Indoor Quad of the Curry Student Center bright and early to begin their day of service out in the community. The students were broken up into groups based on issue areas such as children, hunger, or elders, which they selected during summer orientation. The idea behind this program was to introduce the students to the neighborhoods and communities that surround Northeastern, while giving back at the same time.
The sites and projects varied greatly by organization. Some of the sites, like Jumpstart, were as local as being right here on campus. Other groups traveled a little bit farther out to Mission Hill to help plant trees for Hearth, or out to Quincy to spend time with a senior in Jamaica Plain. Volunteers worked on projects such as preparing and packaging meals at Community Servings, creating school materials for students with Jumpstart, and scraping and painting the fence along Storrow Drive with the Esplanade Association. Although some of the projects involved enduring the heat of a 95- degree day, everyone worked together to complete the tasks at hand and make a difference to the organizations they were working with.
Overall, the project aims to instill in students a commitment to service and civic engagement that will continue throughout their Northeastern experience. This year's program was a huge success, but it would not have been possible without upper class group leaders. If you would like to find out how to become a group leader for next year’s Honors Outreach Project, contact Lauren Pouchak, Associate Director of the Honors Program, at l.pouchak@neu.edu. If you would like more information about community service at Northeastern, contact Sara De Ritter, Assistant Director and Program Coordinator of the Center for Community Service, at s.deritter@neu.edu.