Re: how to respond to today's events?

Stan, All --

Your and your campus-wide actions seem very powerful, and bring hope!  

Your statement, "it is very difficult to think about service-learning to its
full extent at this time," strikes me.  Perhaps the operative words are
"full extent," indeed, it is hard for me to think of much of anything fully
right now.  

However, I found my mind returning TO service-learning throughout the day.
Horrific actions like those we have seen unfolding today can reinforce our
commitment to our field, our commitment to building a better self, and a
better world.

Your students' focus to "retaliate with love" redoubles my efforts to press
on with our important service-related work.  Your students' actions show us
that we have many options as we contemplate responsible (re)action, to this
and to other injustices.  

Amid such unbearable suffering, may we all somehow find renewed hope in our
personal and collective ability to create a world worthy of our children.

Kevin 

*****************************************************************
Kevin Kecskes
Director of Service-Learning
Washington Campus Compact 
c/o Western Washington University, MS-5291 
516 High Street
Bellingham, WA 98225-5996
360/650-7554 (phone)
360/650-6895 (fax)
kevin.kecskes@wwu.edu

WACC website: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~campcomp/


-----Original Message-----
From: Sithanga@aol.com [mailto:Sithanga@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 3:10 PM
To: Fairley@chatham.edu; sl@csf.colorado.edu;
gloconnpgh@yahoo.groups.com
Subject: Re: how to respond to today's events?

Friends,

Today's events have left us so breathless that it has been difficult to
regain ourselves and find ways to serve.  The students at LaGrange College
have team up with Student Life staff to find numerous ways to respond to
today's tragic events.  The students are approaching all organizations on
campus to ask for "loose change" and for clothing.  Furthermore, we are
hoping to use this time as a means to show the President that we hope to use
peaceful means to solve this conflict.  In addition to assisting those in
devastated/bombed areas of the United States of America, the students hope
to show a gesture of love by providing to the suffering in a Middle Eastern
country that have at times been labeled as our "enemy."  We are not
providing to the polity but rather to victims of despotic governments and
victims of unjust foreign policies.  We hope to use this as a means to build
a bridge between communities and allow our students this opportunity to
retaliate with "love."
The students are also participating in the Blood Drives and the college
Chaplain is holding a vigil tonight.  We have already engaged students in
understanding this event in Sociology and Human Services/Social Work classes
and hope to continue to engage them so as to give them a fuller perspective.
It is very difficult to think about service learning to it's full extent at
this time, have other schools or institutions thought about service learning
and reflection activities that are suitable for this? Please forgive me for
the drawn out e-mail but I hope it proves useful.  

Stan Thangaraj
Director of Community Service
LaGrange College
(706)880-8778
sthangaraj@lgc.edu