Thirty new students took part in the pre-orientation service project, POST '96, in the Ithaca community Aug. 19 to 22. At left, incoming freshmen and Cornell Tradition fellows Sarah Fogelman, standing, and Suzanne Guziec help paint a HOMES Inc. residence on West Green Street. Photographs by Charles Harrington/University Photography
Last week, 30 first-year Cornell students participated in a special pre-orientation community service program in Ithaca. Pre-Orientation Service Trips 1996 (POST '96), a first-year pilot project, gave the incoming students a four-day, intensive introduction to community service work and the Ithaca area.
Arranged by Cornell Tradition and Cornell's Public Service Center, the program had three major goals, organizers said.
"We wanted to ease entering students' transition to college, get them involved in community service from the very beginning and give them an orientation to the Ithaca area," said Kris Minor, assistant director of Cornell Tradition, an undergraduate fellowship program, and POST '96 co-coordinator.
Indeed, the Aug. 19 to 22 POST '96 program included both hard work and time for participants to relax and learn about the Ithaca community. The students' daily schedule of service projects consisted of light renovation and landscaping work for Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS), which offers housing repair, loan services and other assistance to low- and moderate-income residents, and HOMES Inc., which provides residential accommodations for people with mental disabilities.
"We graveled roads and basements and painted a lot of homes. It was hard work, but I enjoyed it," said Oscar Espinoza from Linwood, Calif., who is planning to major in nutritional sciences.
Social activities, such as a trip to Taughannock Falls State Park, a scavenger hunt on the Ithaca Commons and panel discussions with local community leaders were reserved for the latter part of each day. The project culminated in a celebration picnic at Stewart Park on Thursday, attended by Ithaca Mayor Alan Cohen and Susan Murphy, Cornell's vice president for student and academic services.
The reasons students gave for participating in POST '96 were numerous and ranged from learning about the Ithaca community to getting a head start at college. But all spoke of one common motivation: an interest in community service and helping people.
"I've been doing community service for several years, and I wanted to continue doing it in college," said Michelle Tonelli, a student from Chicago who is entering the College of Human Ecology. Long Island's Colin MacDonald, entering the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, put it simply: "We're just interested in philanthropy. We know Cornell doesn't really define all of Ithaca. Ithaca defines Cornell."
Not only did participating POST '96 students work in the Ithaca community, but their housing, provided by INHS in two of its rehabilitated houses and one of its rental apartments, was located downtown. Project organizers believed this was important in facilitating the students' sense of the city. Steven Kundrot, a sophomore in engineering and one of six student volunteer team leaders for POST '96, said, "They lived right in the community, and they really got to know the Commons and the downtown area."
The origins of the program came from discussions last year among various campus groups and offices. Several students who participated in Cornell's Wilderness Reflections, a pre-orientation program for students to meet and experience the area's natural environment, were interested in designing a pre-orientation program that emphasized community service. At the same time, the Public Service Center and Cornell Tradition began meeting to discuss ways to get Cornell students even more involved in the Ithaca area. When the groups realized their similar interests, they began meeting and organized POST '96.
Said Vice President Murphy, "We wanted students to find a way to link with the Ithaca community and, ultimately, apply what they have learned at Cornell by making a difference in the community in which they live."
After some preliminary planning, the organizers called on leaders in the Ithaca community for assistance.
"We received tremendous support from Ithaca business merchants," said Ellen Baer, volunteer coordinator of the Public Service Center and co-coordinator of POST '96.
Students learned about and applied for POST '96 through an orientation brochure mailed in the spring. Participants were chosen on a first-come, first-served basis.
"The students' eagerness and motivation for work was exceptional," said John Rogers, rehabilitation coodinator at INHS. "We were quite pleased with their work."
And Mayor Cohen, a Cornell alumnus from the Class of 1981, added, "I wish we had this program when I was in school."
Students in the POST '96 program meet at the Southside Community
Center with community leaders including center Director Jacqueline
Melton-Scott, speaking, and city Alderwoman Susan Blumenthal, to
Melton-Scott's left.
Ithaca Mayor Alan Cohen, standing, speaks to POST '96 participants, their families and Cornell staff members at a picnic for the program at Stewart Park.