At a glance
A total of 93 incoming students took part in Community Action Day, held during the college’s annual Week of Welcome. Designed with new students in mind, the week includes a number of events that are intended to help students have fun, get involved, and feel at home.
The passion that Alfred State students have for helping out the community and those in need is undeniable, even for those who haven’t yet set foot in the classroom.
On Tuesday, Aug. 23, a total of 93 incoming students took part in Community Action Day, held during the college’s annual Week of Welcome. Designed with new students in mind, the week includes a number of events that are intended to help students have fun, get involved, and feel at home.
This year, Community Action Day included projects in churches, libraries, and other non-profit organizations in Alfred, Allentown, Almond, Belmont, Hornell, and Wellsville. These included organizing the community rooms in the basement of the Almond 20th Century Club Library, landscaping and gardening at the Hart Comfort House in Wellsville, and cleaning up outside the Alfred United Methodist Church.
Jonathan Hilsher, director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Alfred State, said, “Community Action Day is a great tradition that allows new students to build friendships, volunteer alongside partnering non-profit organizations, and connect with their new community. This tradition is one way Alfred State lives out our ongoing commitment to civic engagement.”
Bo Glover, an architecture major from Rochester, was one of several incoming students who helped pound trail signage into the ground along the new Pioneer Trail on the Alfred campus. She said she has always done volunteer work in her hometown and decided Community Action Day was a great way to get to know the campus and to give back to the community she is now a part of.
“It feels great,” she said. “I hope to be more active in the community and to also take on more of a leadership role in the future.”
Civic engagement is a key focus at Alfred State, with students, faculty, and staff taking part in days of service such as Celebrate Service Celebrate Allegany and Spring Into Action, and volunteering out-of-state in places such as South Carolina and New Orleans.
The number of service hours contributed by Alfred State’s students has seen significant increases in recent years. Through internships, clinical treatments, and volunteering, the number of service hours has climbed by more than 10 percent per year and has surpassed 80,000 hours of community service per school year.
