UConn Recognized For Katrina Relief

STORRS — The University of Connecticut is one of only nine colleges and universities in the nation to receive a Katrina Compassion Award for excellence in hurricane relief service, placing it on the inaugural President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. UConn was the only institution in Connecticut to receive the award.

The university was also one of 141 colleges and universities nationwide named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for General Community Service.

“This is wonderful news and a great credit to all involved in the Katrina relief efforts,” said Veronica Makowsky, vice provost for undergraduate education and regional campus administration.

“In addition to demonstrating the compassion and hard work of UConn students, it’s an example of the kind of engaged experiential learning that we would like as an enrichment opportunity for every UConn student.”

Matthew Farley, coordinator for community outreach, said “We should be proud of the work we’ve done thus far. This recognition should strengthen our resolve to continue to engage in meaningful service with our local, national, and international communities.”

Students, faculty, and staff from across the university came together to support victims of Hurricane Katrina. UConn students from 20 community service, social, and academic organizations established the Hurricane Katrina Relief Student Organization to raise funds for Katrina relief. An estimated 1,000 students participated in fundraising projects for hurricane relief, contributing an estimated 11,000 hours of service.

Using a variety of creative techniques, including the donation of student dining hall meals, the group raised $75,000 in the fall 2005 semester alone, and filled two buses with donated relief goods that were delivered to hurricane victims.

Students who returned from a university-sponsored service trip to Mississippi in January created the UConn Relief Corps to support continued Gulf Coast direct relief work.

The group organized and led two trips to New Orleans during spring break and during the summer. Students cleaned, painted, or gutted 19 homes, contributing a total of 3,700 service hours, and saving residents an estimated $132,000.

Using a service-learning approach, in 2005-06, the University’s Community Outreach office organized a trip to Mississippi during winter break and a trip to New Orleans during spring break, during which 3,800 hours of relief service were contributed by 100 students and staff. Those trips will take place again this year.

The recognition is presented in cooperation with Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 1,000 college and university presidents, and supported by all the major national higher education associations. The award presentations came a day after the Corporation for National and Community Service released a study showing college student civic engagement has risen significantly in recent years.

Using data collected by the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the study showed that student volunteerism increased about 20 percent from 2002 to 2005, and that 3.3 million college students serve their communities and nation. The study showed that college students between the ages of 16 and 24 are more likely to volunteer than others in that age group who are not enrolled in an educational institution.