Campus & Community Public Service Scholars graduates combine service, education
| Public Service Scholars graduates combine service, education |
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| Friday, May 09, 2008 | |
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Carrie Crespo, Stephen Hoyle and Jaymin Patel will be graduating with the Class of 2008 this Sunday (May 11), and they, along with 112 other members of their class, will be wearing a special Carolina blue and white cord they will receive today (May 9). The cord designates them as graduating Public Service Scholars at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Carolina Center for Public Service will honor graduating scholars for their commitment to communities throughout the world and their legacy of service while at Carolina at an event tonight at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. Since the program’s inception five years ago, program participants have logged more than 290,000 service hours, and participation has climbed from 78 individuals in 2003 to 1,320 this year, with 988 of these students coming from 85 counties around the state. Completing an average of almost 450 hours per graduate, the scholars have been part of public service projects on campus and across the state and the world. They have worked at UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, the Animal Protection Society of Orange County, Meals on Wheels and the United Negro College Fund. They have also participated in international public service projects through Carolina for Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya, and ProPeru. “What started as a commitment to continue doing service in college has turned into lifelong friends, amazing experiences and skills that will help me in all aspects of my future,” said Crespo, a senior journalism and mass communication major from Charlotte, who will graduate as a Public Service Scholar. She plans to work as a community newspaper reporter in North Carolina.
Biology major Stephen Hoyle is following in the footsteps of older brother Joseph, who was a member of the inaugural class of Public Service Scholars in 2005. “Through my service in the Public Service Scholars program, I decided on my professional goal to become a dentist, with a vision to serve people internationally on a consistent basis, ” said Hoyle, who will attend Carolina’s School of Dentistry in the fall. The Public Service Scholars program provides a way for Carolina students to strengthen their commitment to service, learn new skills and link their academic experience to making a difference in the community. To graduate as a Public Service Scholar, students must have a minimum 2.5 grade-point average, complete at least 300 hours of service, take one service-learning course and attend four skills-training workshops. “The Public Service Scholars program helped me find my niche here at UNC,” said Jaymin Patel, a senior biology and environmental studies double major from Greenville. “It gave me an opportunity to make my four years here at Carolina really count for something important.” The Carolina Center for Public Service, created in 1997, engages and supports the faculty, students and staff at Carolina in meeting the needs of North Carolina. The Center strengthens the University’s public service commitment by promoting scholarship and service that are responsive to the concerns of the state and contribute to the common good. Note: More information about each Public Service Scholar graduate’s public service, major and post-graduation plans is available at http://www.unc.edu/cps/documents/08PSSgradbulletin.pdf Carolina Center for Public Service Web site: http://www.unc.edu/cps Carolina Center for Public Service contact: Lynn Blanchard, (919) 843-7570,
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