Gary Schueller, a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell, has received a $1,500 Howard R. Swearer Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Public Service. Schueller, one of five student recipients throughout the United States, accepted the award during the Campus Compact National Summit held Nov. 8 and 9 at Brown University. John Bridgeland, assistant to President George W. Bush and director of the USA Freedom Corps, presented the awards.
Schueller, also a Cornell Bartels Undergraduate Action Research Fellow, was recognized for helping to create Touchstones, a neighborhood after-school music program for youths living in housing units supported by the city of Ithaca. Schueller applied his knowledge of public policy issues by networking with local agencies, community organizations and government offices. Cornell President Hunter Rawlings commended Schueller's "dedication to empowering youth and developing sustainable university-community partnerships."
About 10 steel drums were purchased for Touchstones through a cooperative intra-agency effort that included the Cornell Tradition, the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA), the Ithaca Housing Authority and the Ithaca Youth Bureau. The drums serve as a culturally accessible vehicle for creative expression and learning about the arts, said John Bailey, program coordinator for the youth bureau, who assisted with the project. However, Touchstones also includes lessons from music instructors, visits from prominent area musicians as well as public performances. The idea for the drums came from former CSMA director Sam Velasquez -- but it was Schueller's footwork and energy that led to the creation of Touchstones.
"I know Gary mainly through his work here in the Big Brother program," said Bailey, noting that Schueller joined the one-on-one program as a freshman. "Touchstones was a great idea -- and one that kids can relate to because it brings the arts right into the neighborhood. It shows kids that the arts don't only have to happen at school, they happen right in your community and are part of the neighborhood culture."
Bailey said the program had its first successful launch last summer.
Schueller, a native of Westchester County, N.Y., studied piano throughout secondary school and also spent his summers as a volunteer in a local library reading program. At Cornell, his academic focus is on public policy and issues relating to the disenfranchised, particularly issues facing young poor people. He said he was disturbed by the high percentage of troubled youth in Ithaca's public housing facilities -- percentages he learned about while studying demographics at Cornell.
"Ninety percent of the kids in [Ithaca's] Northside are in free lunch programs. With budget cutbacks, there are no structured activities for them after school," said Schueller. "I felt that part of my responsibility as a member of the Cornell community was to engage in the university's public service mission to the local community, to get involved in direct action and outreach."
With strong support from the Cornell Tradition, Schueller said he developed a public service opportunity that blended his musical skills and channeled his Cornell education in a direct, practical and enduring local project.
"This type of public service work is inextricably linked with my academic work," said Schueller. "It has allowed me to apply my academic knowledge of demographics, public policy and psychology, for example. And one of the things I've regretted is that I've been so busy, I haven't had time to play music."
The Swearer Award is sponsored by the Sallie Mae Community Fund and honors the life and work of Howard R. Swearer, 15th President of Brown University and one of three college presidents who founded Campus Compact in 1985. The award is presented annually by Campus Compact, a national coalition of more than 850 college and university presidents who are committed to making community service an integral part of undergraduate education.
While Schueller's project has resonated in Ithaca, he'd like to see more Cornell student involvement in the local community. For the remainder of his student career at Cornell he intends to help make community outreach partnerships more visible and to increase Cornell student participation in public service, he said.
"The crisis our communities face today is one of dis-connect," Schueller said. "With the current political climate, the commitment to local engagement in public service programs is paramount. Cornell students can make a big difference in this community and broaden their perspective on the world as well. And the Cornell administration should encourage and support that engagement. After all, it's an integral part of our mission as a land-grant university."
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