DANA LINNANE/Daily
University Regent Phillip Power commemorates Kennedy's speech on the Michigan Union steps yesterday. |
By Asma Rafeeq
For the Daily
On Oct. 14, 1960, a crowd of more than 10,000 students spilled across State Street from the steps of the Michigan Union.
John F. Kennedy drew the enormous audience to the historic event, and when he finally arrived at 2 a.m., three hours late, he announced the founding of a bold international volunteer program, the Peace Corps.
Yesterday, in the chilly autumn weather, a considerably smaller group of about 50 people gathered on the Union steps for a similar announcement - the establishment of a new service program aimed at Michigan communities.
This program is "the next step in Michigan's long tradition of community service," said Barry Checkoway, the director of the Center for Community Service and Learning, which is establishing the program.
The new program, called the Michigan Community Service Corps, is intended to be a way for University students to participate in strengthening social development, said Maureen Hartford, vice president for student affairs.
Checkoway, a professor of Social Work, said next summer, the Michigan Community Service Corps plans to send teams of five to six students to communities in Benton Harbor, Flint, Saginaw, Washtenaw County and Detroit. Eventually, the program is expected to send students to all the various communities of Michigan, Checkoway said.
"We have limitless enthusiasm," Checkoway said, "We are limited only by the resources we have." Hundreds of students applied last year for the pilot phase of the program, Checkoway said.
Stacy Arnold, an LSA senior, participated in the pilot phase, working last summer in a Flint elementary school. As part of the program, her team created a mural depicting children of various ethnicities and physical capabilities. Although she worked with the community for a relatively short time, Arnold said the relationships she formed and the work she did continue to last.
"Looking back, I realize that our work did not end on July 31st," Arnold said.
"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come and that can engage the passion of students," said Regent Philip Power (D- Ann Arbor), who spoke at the announcement.
Power, a University alumnus, recalled the role University students played in a nationwide movement that eventually established the Peace Corps.
"Many students (across the country) were unfairly found to be unconcerned and passive," Power said. Power was part of a small student group at the time called Americans Committed to World Responsibility, he said. The group wrote a manifesto calling for a national program allowing college students to volunteer abroad and published the manifesto on the editorial page of The Michigan Daily, Power said.
"What was needed was a vehicle for (the students') interest" in service, Power said. He said other newspapers printed the manifesto, and it eventually was sent to Theodore Sorenson, the speech writer for Senator John F. Kennedy, who at that time was a candidate for President.
The Michigan Community Service Corps will be a valuable extension of the University's tradition of service, Power said.
Alicia Wilson, a third-year Social Work and Public Policy graduate student, participated in the Michigan Neighborhood AmeriCorps Program last year. She assisted grass roots organizations in a northern Detroit community, helping them get resources and grants.
"Service is an excellent developmental opportunity and a good way to link learning with experience." Wilson said. "It gave me training for a lifetime of engaging in the democratic process."
Students in the Michigan Community Service Corps will receive a small stipend, Checkoway said.
"Part of the hope of the program is that it will be a way for students to serve, to learn from their service and to earn money," Checkoway said.
10-23-98
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