Harris Wofford promotes service as a way to solve social problems

Harris Wofford, the CEO of the Corporation for National Service, is shown photographs of Alpha Phi Omega's community projects by Molly Beinfeld, the president of the service fraternity's Cornell chapter. Wofford spoke to student service leaders in Anabel Taylor Hall Feb. 6. Robert Barker/University Photography

By John Wilson '98

In his visit to campus Feb. 6, Harris Wofford, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, urged students to continue devoting time and energy to community service programs and asked the university to encourage more students to earn their federal work-study funds at jobs associated with those programs.

Wofford was the keynote speaker at the third annual Cornell Tradition convocation, during which university officials announced a $1,000 increase in the maximum annual fellowship award for students in Cornell Commitment programs, including the Tradition.

President Hunter Rawlings introduced Wofford and praised him for his "resolute and long-term commitment to the nation's good." And U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-26th), who also spoke briefly at the convocation, called Wofford "one of America's most distinguished citizens" who understands, he said, that "being a citizen means being a citizen of the world."

"We must take volunteerism seriously as a way of solving problems," Wofford told the audience, referring to the goals of last year's Presidential Summit for America's Future in Philadelphia, which he helped organize. They include: ensuring that children receive necessary immunizations; providing them with positive role models and safe spaces; advancing literacy; and challenging people to serve.

The national press has gauged the impact of the summit by questioning whether the number of volunteers nationwide is increasing, but instead, Wofford said, the media focus should be on whether the stated objectives are being met.

Wofford, who heads the Corporation for National Service and was one of the early guiding forces of the Peace Corps, expressed the belief that participation in community service might re-create the kind of spirit that prevailed among many during World War II and the Civil Rights Movement.

"I'm yearning for one more time in my life when there's a coming together to accomplish important goals for the country," he said, telling the audience how he and his friends used bicycles instead of cars in the early 1940s in order to save gasoline for the war effort.

Wofford said that before boarding his flight to Ithaca he was given a note from a friend who is a Cornell graduate. Paraphrasing the note, which concerned "the great pumpkin" speared atop McGraw Tower since October, he said: "Imagine the impact Cornell students would have if they put the same kind of ingenuity into pursuing public service as they do in placing vegetables on top of bell towers!" The audience burst into laughter and applause.

Wofford said that the original purpose of the federal work-study program was to enable students to earn money for their education by performing public service. Although the federal government now requires that 5 percent of work-study recipients take jobs with service groups, Wofford recommended that 50 percent of Cornell students with these funds do so.

Several hours prior to the convocation address, Wofford attended a gathering of about 50 students, faculty and staff who are campus leaders in community service in order to learn about their activities, ranging from the Cornell Early Childhood Program to Dilmun Hill Cornell Student Farm.

Student representatives from Cornell's chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a coeducational service fraternity, brought along a thick scrapbook of photographs depicting students engaged in community service. "We try to have fun in everything we do," Molly Beinfeld, the organization's president, told Wofford, who inspected the photographs closely and approvingly. He echoed her comments later in the evening when he said, "The key to increasing service is to make it fun."

Cindy Kramer, an assistant director at Cornell's Public Service Center, spoke with Wofford about the large number of Cornell students who signed up to help in area literacy programs, causing him to conclude, "It really shows that the power of colleges and universities to achieve public service goals is enormous."

Read about the increase in student fellowship awards for Cornell Tradition.