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Before ever attending a class, or even going through New Student Orientation, nearly three dozen members of Lafayette’s incoming class will begin their college experience by doing voluntary service in the community.
Thirty-three first-year students will participate in Lafayette’s annual Pre-Orientation Service Program, run by the College’s Landis Community Outreach Center, this Sunday through Thursday, Aug. 20-24. Eighteen of the new students will mentor children on campus in the annual Kids in the Community camp. Six will work on a Habitat for Humanity project. Five will organize and staff the last week of the Firth Youth Center’s summer day camp in Phillipsburg, and four will brighten life for seniors at the Easton Area Senior Center.
An additional 20 returning upper-level students, all veterans of pre-orientation service in previous years, will coordinate the activities. They include Jonathan Farrar ’07 (Alexandria, Va.), this year’s executive director, who executed much of the preliminary programming. He is pursuing a B.S. physics and A.B. with a major in mathematics.
During the pre-orientation program, the Landis Center also will host a dinner for volunteers and the Easton community and present awards for civic engagement to four Easton residents 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22, at First United Church of Christ, 27 North Third Street, Easton. George Bright, Gary Miller, Frances Ketchen, and Nadane Loane will be honored for leading lives of commitment in a complex world.
Bright, Lafayette’s associate director of athletics, will be recognized for active leadership in the local NAACP, Easton Area School Board, and black community. Miller, the former College chaplain who still teaches courses, will be recognized for beginning the Landis Center programs and continuing his work on the community service component of Lafayette’s first-year seminar. Ketchen, former president of NAACP, will be honored for lifelong activism in Easton and service on the Easton Area School Board. Loane, a leader in the Weed and Seed program, will receive recognition for lifelong activism in public health initiatives.
For more information on the service program, dinner, or other Landis Center initiatives, contact Amber Zuber, assistant director of the center, (610) 330-5653 or zubera@lafayette.edu.
Lafayette’s New Student Orientation will be held Friday-Sunday, Aug. 25-27, and classes will begin for all students Monday, Aug. 28.
“The significance of the service program is twofold,” Zuber explains. “Lafayette students gain a first-hand introduction to the surrounding communities through direct service with community partners, while also learning about the Landis Center’s ongoing opportunities for civic engagement and participation. The community benefits from the days of service spent addressing specific needs.
“The program also fosters connections and involvement on a variety of levels to encourage students to take advantage of the many positive experiences the community has to offer, through service and other social activities,” Zuber says.
To enrich their volunteer experience, the students will read the book Common Fire: Lives of Commitment in a Complex World by Laurent A. Parks Daloz and reflect on the meaning of their own service. There also will be reflection and dialogue each evening so students can explore their relationships with their local and global communities.
The Kids in the Community camp has been a Lafayette tradition since three students founded it in 1995, and it is consistently among the programs that draw the greatest volunteer interest and commitment. Under the direction of Samira Fowler ’07 (Dingmans Ferry, Pa.), a civil engineering major, first-year students will mentor children ranging in age from 4 to 16, providing fun and safe academic enrichment, arts and crafts, and recreational activities throughout the week. They also will participate in various activities on campus, including a spoken-word theater production for members of other pre-orientation service projects.
The associate director is Joanna Norelli ’08 (Langhorne, Pa.; mathematics). Assistant directors are Danielle Bero ’07(Astoria, N.Y.; creative mediums and social justice), Alberto Luna ’08 (Bronx, N.Y.; English and psychology), Daniel Martini ’07 (Chappaqua, N.Y.; international affairs and French), and Eugene Netupsky ’08 (New York, N.Y.; English).
Returning students who will serve as camp staff include William Bergey ’09 (Chesapeake, Va.; English), Jillian Carinci ’08 (Wilmington, Del.; biochemistry), Emily Frank ’08 (Bedford, Mass.; electrical and computer engineering), Bradley Knepper ’08 (Branchburg, N.J.; economics and business), Corey Kosydar ’08 (Germantown, Pa.; psychology), Jeremy Saxe ’09 (Orange, Conn.), Julia Sorkin ’09 (Whippany, N.Y.; economics and business), Stephanie Sulfaro ’09 (Melville, N.Y.; international affairs), Allison Summer ’09 (Katonah, N.Y.; psychology), Carolyn Szczepanski ’09 (Elizabethtown, Pa.; chemical engineering), and Edward Yao ’08 (Bronx, N.Y.; government and law).
First-year volunteers include Dan D’Argenio (Yardley, Pa.), Millicent Barry (Somerville, N.J.), Laura Bochner (Bethlehem, Pa.), Hilary Carroll (North Hampton, N.H.), Beth Anne Cavanaugh (Woodlyn, Pa.), Michael DiGirolamo (Urbana, Md.), Michael Fuller (Concord, N.H.), Katherine Holmes (Oak Ridge, N.J.), Sarah Kolba (Chelmsford, Mass.), Melissa Krop (Marlboro, N.J.), Chris La Tempa (Pompton Plains, N.J.), Elizabeth Matecki (Spring Lake Heights, N.J.), Tara Mayo (Bayville, N.J.), Jennifer Romano (Medford, N.Y.), Nicole Shames (Hood River, Ore.), John Stewart (Wellesley, Mass.), Ian Stone (Lebanon, N.H.), Janelle Thompson (Butler, Pa.), and Caroline Richardson (Monmouth Junction, N.J.).
Habitat for Humanity volunteers assist in all aspects of home construction ranging from putting up drywall to installing interior framing. Nathan Parker ’08(Milford, N.H.; biology) is director of this year’s effort.
First-years in the Habitat group include Emily Bernzott (Islip, N.Y.), Jesse Calkins (Bloomsburg, Pa.), Marcy Forgang (Larchmont, N.Y.), Stefanie Mircovich (Wyckoff, Pa.), Emanuel Santa-Donato (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), and Kelly Sendelsky (Chester, N.J.).
This summer marks the second year that Lafayette partners with Firth Youth Center, an after-school center for children in Phillipsburg. Miranda Dolan ’07 (Pitman, N.J.; anthropology and sociology) will lead the Lafayette team at the center’s day camp.
Serving as camp staff will be first-year students Shao Ping Bao (Jersey City, N.J.), Stephanie Fosbenner (Perkasie, Pa.), Timothy Hatch (Glens Falls, N.Y.), Leslie Raucher (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), and Sarah Wallace (Bedford, N.H.).
Under the supervision of Stephanie Mishik ’07 (Mantua, N.J.; psychology and government & law), first-years volunteering at the Easton Area Senior Center will record oral histories of senior residents and coordinate intergenerational projects with the Kids in the Community camps. Volunteers include Elina Druker (Harrisburg, Pa.), Marie Garofalo (Randolph, N.J.), Elizabeth Graybill (Carlisle, Pa.), and Jacquelyn Molendyke (West Chester, Pa.).
The Landis Center encourages first-year students to become involved in its programs to learn about complex social issues, meet peers interested in civic engagement and community service, learn about the local community’s assets and challenges, and develop meaningful relationships with returning Lafayette students.