Appalachia, Pulse, Campus School: These are only a few of the many volunteer opportunities at Boston College. As a Jesuit university that places great importance on service to others, volunteering has worked its way into almost every student's undergraduate career.
Daniel Ponsetto, the director of the Volunteer and Service Learning Center of BC, said that the University attracts service-oriented, committed students, and that "others catch the bug." When asked why such a large number of people commit their time to volunteering, Ponsetto said, "They want to be involved in a community, to be a part of something." Being a part of something is not the only benefit of volunteering; Ponsetto also said that it helps people gain insights about the world and each person's role in it. This role, however, is not limited to helping to build a house or tutoring a young student in Brighton.
Bobak Fatemizadeh, a representative from the BC Democrats and A&S '09, said that service and political participation cannot be separated. He said, "I don't think students should view political activism and social activism/volunteering as two mutually exclusive activities … students should recognize that voting and being politically active is a way to amplify their effect on society."
Fatemizadeh was not the only one to express this sentiment. Ponsetto also said that bearing witness to such political issues compels people to strive to have a larger effect in the world.
Fatemizadeh said, "Often the issues around which people get involved in when volunteering exist as a result of different failures of our elected officials; students should recognize that they can tackle these issues from two directions by both volunteering and voting."
Since the link between these two forms of social participation holds so strong, it seems that at a service-oriented school such as BC, the voting participation would be equally high. With the 2008 elections coming up in the next year, voting in the next presidential election will be a new way for many students to participate in their community and in their country. But do students vote as much as they volunteer?
2008 Woodie Awards
