May 13, 2015
Beyond the Selfie: UW Spring Celebration of Service and Leadership to take place on May 20
Back to the spring 2015 UAA e-newsletter >
Students discuss their service projects in the Spring Celebration gallery.
In honor of their dedication to community-based service and activism, the Spring Celebration of Service and Leadership will recognize the exemplary commitment of University of Washington undergraduates on May 20 from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Husky Union Building (HUB—gallery of projects on first floor, reception in Lyceum) on the UW Seattle campus. The annual event showcases more than 100 UW undergraduates who develop their leadership skills while committing their time, skills and hard work in service of their communities.
On campus and off, UW students are expanding definitions of service and leadership and blurring the boundaries between classroom and community. This year’s theme – Beyond the Selfie – encapsulates how UW students look beyond themselves and focus on the bigger picture around them. In 2013-14, more than 6,500 students engaged in academic service-learning, volunteering an astounding 854,154 hours with organizations such as Neighborhood Block Watch, Education Transforming Community Health (ETCH) and TEDxUofW.
This year’s Spring Celebration will include a gallery of student projects curated by UW Leaders; 12 oral break-out sessions on issues of educational equity led by representatives and students of the Husky Leadership Certificate program; and a pop-up museum curated by students who attended Citizen University 2015, a national conference for educators and activists on civic engagement. All students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends of UAA programs are invited to attend.
In offering their valuable skills and time, students support the work of numerous organizations while simultaneously growing their own capacity for leadership and gaining the space to reflect on the value of service.
Mahdi Ramadan is a junior in neurobiology and worked with Middle East Peace Camp, a summer camp in Seattle where Arab and Jewish communities teach peace to Middle Eastern children to take back home. Inspired to participate after experiencing first hand the ugly side of war and conflict, Ramadan wanted to bring people together and to humanize individuals who would not normally interact. She believes that “the skills you gain by volunteering, like compassion and empathy — skills that cannot be taught by a textbook — play a vital part in shaping a person at home and in the work field.”
Susie Dobkins, a senior studying aquatic and fishery sciences, developed a passion for education during her time as a mentor, high school lead and college readiness assistant with the Dream Project, a University of Washington program that teaches UW undergrads to mentor students in King County high schools who may experience barriers to higher education. She created a “Here to Career” poster series to showcase different career fields and how young students can make progress toward them that will be displayed around Seattle area high schools. “To me, this project means empowering students to chart their own path and see their full potential…and also shows them that success doesn’t have to be confined to becoming a doctor or a lawyer,” she says.
“Community service is an awareness for time, space, people and their collective needs,” says Elizabeth Wu, a creative writing English and performance drama major who instigated Stories from Chinatown, a living theater project designed to foster dialogue about Asian American identity in the 21st century. Wu believes that service is about “striving to do the highest amount of good with what you have — mentally, physically and resourcefully.”
The Spring Celebration of Service and Leadership is planned and coordinated by programs in Undergraduate Academic Affairs, Student Life, and the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity.