As she moves toward a shelf filled with pictures of her students on different Hurricane Katrina relief trips, Mary Slade’s eyes light up. She plucks one framed photograph of a group from a trip to New Orleans, beaming as she talks about her experiences.
“Every student that has gone before has continued to engage themselves civically,” says Slade, professor of exceptional education. “It’s our way of being the change—these are the experiences we need to have at JMU.”
Slade is an example of a long-standing trend of civic engagement at JMU. Having been to the area five times, Slade says that she will continue to return to New Orleans until there’s no work left. Her intense motivation for returning comes from her interactions with the people of New Orleans and the student volunteers who have joined her.
After Hurricane Katrina, students and faculty responded by organizing the first relief trip during Thanksgiving 2005. Several trips followed, with Community Service-Learning (CSL) providing seed money and a structure for the programs.
“In general, students at JMU are motivated and focused,” says CSL director Rich Harris. “JMU can help contribute to that by giving them skills, talent and training to help plug them into service opportunities.”