Tucked in a southeast corner of Austin College’s Wright Campus Center is a tiny war room where students make big plans for peace and goodwill. The young people there gather around their laptops and cups of Bigelow Constant Comment tea, the official warm drink of the Austin College Service Station. The Service Station is the College’s hub of organized service projects throughout the campus and community.
As part of the College’s Religious Life program, the Service Station has mobilized students for hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours since its founding in 1991. Now in its 25th year, student commitment remains strong. The program is led by a 20-member student board and Austin College staff member Nancy Morgan, part-time coordinator of volunteer services since 2008. Their mission is to match willing student volunteers with service needs in the Texoma region.
Dr. John Williams, Austin College chaplain and director of church relations, says, “We spend a lot of time helping students identify and develop their gifts. But we don’t think they’re fully educated until they learn how to share their gifts and to be good news to others.”
Seniors Henali Patel and Ganesh Maniam are the current Service Station Board co-chairs. “One of my favorite things about the Service Station is that we focus on all of the service opportunities and choices right here in our own neighborhood. Being able to break that bubble between our campus and Sherman is such an amazing thing because it allows our students to immerse themselves in the environment we call home for four years,” she said.
Short- and long-term projects pass through the Service Station regularly, and the board maintains a thorough list of community contacts to make sure the opportunities never run dry for individuals and the many campus organizations that have service goals each year.
Each fall, the Service Station coordinates the Great Day of Service. By partnering with non-profit groups in the region, the Service Station assigns and deploys hundreds of students into the community to fill specific needs. They completed the 19th Great Day of Service and food drive on November 5, 2016. Four hundred twenty-six volunteers gave more than 1,275 hours of service to 46 separate agencies in the Texoma area—all in one day, with one purpose—to serve as needed. Since students are not in town during Sherman’s summer Great Days of Service, the Service Station created a similar opportunity in the fall so students could serve locally.
Patel said, “Nancy Morgan, our coordinator, always reminds the board that our office can serve as the lighthouse for Sherman since it allows the community to reach out to us for help and allows us to volunteer alongside them.”
Great Day of Service partner organizations have included: Grayson Children’s Advocacy Center, Women Rock, Grand Avenue Presbyterian Church, Divine Equine, Sherman Band Boosters, Grand Central Station, the Sherman Museum, Sherman Neighborhood Services, and many more.
Students in the Service Station also significantly impact area school children through free tutoring services and the monthly ’Roo Bound program. With up to 50 children in attendance at each ’Roo Bound, the programming explores different aspects of life at Austin College, such as physics, health sciences, fine arts, religious life, diversity and environmental studies. About 25 Service Station volunteers work to help give the children a glimpse of college life and hope to instill in students an understanding of the possibility of attending college themselves one day.
The January Term at Austin College allows students to explore topics in-depth for an intense, short academic term. Many travel abroad or explore careers off campus and others take classes on campus. To take advantage of the more relaxed on-campus schedule, the Service Station organizes JanServe–a, one-day service project. In January 2017, more than 40 student volunteers chose between serving at a Special Olympics basketball tournament, or reading to Sherman Independent School District elementary students, or working at the MasterKey Ministries of Grayson County, Inc. after school program, or Denison Helping Hands food assistance program.
The office is open every weekday afternoon, where Morgan and the students keep extensive records and update contacts. Targeted event promotion and thorough debriefing are part of the long-term success of the Service Station.
“The volunteer manpower is ‘free,’ but the staff, supplies, resources, and technology have associated costs,” Williams said. “Our greatest need is for funding for a full-time coordinator.”
“We do invest in T-shirts,” Williams said, “because, well, they’re important to the students doing the work. In addition to their ongoing promotional value, they help students know they are part of something greater—part of group. Camaraderie is a big reason why the students serve.”
In addition to work in the region, the Service Station holds an annual fundraiser for TOSTAN, a grass-roots community education effort based in Senegal, Africa. And, each spring an Alternative Spring Break trip takes about 40 students to serve communities in need, often by assisting with clean up and construction after a natural disaster. That project has recently been fully endowed by a $200,000 gift from the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth.
Patel continued, “Whether it’s a couple of hours after school or work, or one weekend a month, the Service Station office encourages everyone to discover the joys of giving back and see firsthand how it impacts your personal and academic life for the better. I’ve gained new skill sets that will be valuable for a job market: how to be a leader, communication skills, dependability, and time management.”
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, international study, pre-professional foundations, leadership development, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with more than 40 percent of students representing ethnic minorities. A residential student body of approximately 1,275 students and a faculty of more than 100 allow a 13:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. The College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. Founded in 1849, the College is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.