Scholars in Service

Take the critical examination from the classroom and apply it to real world challenges. At Macaulay, we believe that every student should engage the issues faced by the community. Students are encouraged to participate in service opportunities that reflect their individual values and concerns as well as their educational and professional goals. Students are advised to participate in a service learning program, where a service experience is a part of the coursework. Macaulay Honors College also works with local, national and international groups to sponsor Honors College-wide service projects, including MLK Service Day and "Alternative Break" service programs.

Macaulay Service Learning

Students in New Orleans

The City that Care Forgot

Since 2007, Macaulay has sent a team of students to New Orleans with Professor Ted Henken and Dr. Deborah Gardner. Their course, New Orleans: The City that Care Forgot, is an interdisciplinary honors which is loved by students in engineering, education, sociology, anthropology, history, and many other disciplines. It is taught from historical, cultural, and sociological perspectives. The course revisits the week of August 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans and the wider Gulf Coast region. It focuses on how human inaction transformed a natural disaster into an ongoing socioeconomic, political, and humanitarian catastrophe. The goal is to understand what unfolded during those days and during the subsequent weeks and months, linking those events to the cityÕs storied past and still uncertain future. Incorporated in the course is an Alternative Break Service Program. Students participate in a week-long trip to New Orleans, during which students engage in a collective rebuilding effort. A series of guided city tours help students better understand the peculiar "geographies"" unique to the city of New Orleans, including geological, engineering, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, historical, and cultural elements. Students visit levees and hear about their construction from an engineer, as well as the wetlands.

Macaulay Service Projects

Each month, Macaulay Scholars Council organizes a service project. Working with several organizations, such as New York Food Bank, City Year, and New York Cares, Macaulay has a fine tradition of Scholars in Service. Upcoming projects are always announced in Macaulay Monday. Plan on being a part of MLK Service Day on Martin Luther King Day and Spring into Service during spring break.

Macaulay Alternative Break Program

Since 2007, Macaulay Honors College has offered service programs during the winter, spring and summer breaks. These programs allow students to work on critical national and international needs, as they travel and bond with their peers. Students have worked on affordable housing efforts with Habitat for Humanity in places such as Chimaltenango, Guatemala; Eagle Butte, South Dakota, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Students are also working on anti-malaria efforts in Accra, Ghana. During one of your college years, plan on being part of an alternative break program.

What Service Means...

Community service opportunities take many forms. There are one-time events and more sustained activities. Service is really about sustained contact with people in a particular community, working on a specific issue, understanding the root causes of that issue. By the time your service project is completed, you should know that you've made a difference. You should not only be able to feel this, but to see your tangible impact as well. After your service, you leave knowing that your contribution will live on whether are you still serving or not. Service is a key component of what it means to be an honors student--it is critical learning in action.

You may find community service opportunities on your own, through your community, or through campus organizations such as Circle K or the Golden Key Honors Society. Macaulay Honors College has also organized Honors College-wide community service opportunities with several organizations, such as City Year and New York Cares (park and public school cleanups).

You must complete a minimum of 30 hours of community service by the end of your junior year. A minimum of 10 hours must be completed during each of your first three years at Macaulay.

Internships and paid work are not considered community service. You must submit an online Community Service Verification Form after completing your community service. Thank you for giving your best and helping to strengthen the world's communities.

Students Speak

Students return from their service learning experience with unforgettable stories. Why not share your own? Contact Solita Alexander, 212-729-2946, solita.alexander@mhc.cuny.edu to let us archive your story.

The City That Care Forgot

Ted Henken

Professor Ted Henken introduces the alternative Spring Break Service Learning experience in New Orleans.

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