Students interview president for a project on ethics, civic responsibility

President Hunter Rawlings, center, speaks with Templeton Fellows, from left, Natalie Bridgeman, Kristin Ruether, David Rosas and Keisha Hudson in his Day Hall office Feb. 22. Frank DiMeo/University Photography

As part of a national initiative, a committee of four Cornell students met with President Hunter Rawlings Feb. 22 to discuss the university's role in promoting ethical development and civic responsibility.

Similar discussions between Templeton Fellows and university presidents are taking place throughout the country. The project, which involves 174 students nationwide, is sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation and Campus Compact, a coalition of nearly 600 college and university presidents committed to helping students develop the values and skills of citizenship through involvement in public and community service. Campus Compact is based at Brown University.

Cornell's Templeton Fellows were chosen for their broad-based representation in campus activities and academic areas, as well as their involvement in public service. They are:

• Natalie Bridgeman, a senior responsible for creating the student committee and reporting back to Campus Compact. A government major with a concentration in international relations, Bridgeman is pursuing a career in international environmental and human rights law. She founded and coordinates the Cornell Food Distribution Project, which distributes surplus Cornell dining hall food to local soup kitchens, and is a manager at the Public Service Center. She also sings with several a cappella groups at home, in Santa Cruz, Calif., and at Cornell.

• Keisha Hudson, a senior in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. A native of Jamaica, she is a member of United Progressives and Ordinary People, a drama troupe that performs skits on oppression to educate the Cornell community on issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, ableism, androcentrism, classism and other issues. She has worked with the Cornell Women's Resource Center and the Human Rights Commission and has organized for the Chicago New Party.

• David Rosas, a junior from New York City majoring in human development and family studies, with an emphasis on child development, in the College of Human Ecology. He also is completing a concentration in Latino studies. Rosas currently is co-chair of La Asociacion Latina, the pan-Latino political organization at Cornell, and is one of two students elected to be part of the Latino Studies Program (LSP) Advisory Board.

• Kristin Ruether, a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences majoring in biological sciences. She is co-president of the Cornell Greens and has spent several summers performing trail maintenance in the Adirondack Mountains. She interned with an environmental group working to protect Idaho's National Forests and is a regional organizer for the Allegheny Defense Project, a forest defense group in northwestern Pennsylvania (she lives in a small town near Pittsburgh). Last semester, Ruether was an editor of Threshold, the national magazine of the Student Environmental Action Coalition. She raced for the Cornell nordic ski team for two years.

Bridgeman reported: "The student panel asked Rawlings a series of questions challenging the university's ability to promote ethics, civic responsibility and community engagement while taking such actions as investing in multinational corporations that are 'ethical failures' and undermining student trust and interest in the direction of the LSP."

Other topics discussed during the hour-and-a-half session were whether the university should implement Student Assembly resolutions, use of recycled paper, the Arts College's handling of the Latino Studies Program and service learning.

Bridgeman said Rawlings identified the Cornell Public Service Center as a valuable resource for students and agreed that the 30 service-learning courses Cornell offers are important but too few for a university the size of Cornell. To encourage growth in the area of service learning, Rawlings and the students agreed that deans should offer faculty incentives for developing service-learning course offerings.

Rawlings identified a need to expand curriculum on ethics across disciplines, Bridge-man said. He announced that Professor Henry Shue, director of the Ethics and Public Life Program, and Vice Provost Mary Sansalone will be working together toward this goal.

Rawlings asked the Templeton Fellows whether required service was effective in producing engaged citizens. Bridgeman reported that the students agreed that in the context of service learning, required service may be valuable but that without a framework for meaningful reflection or connections to academic learning, required service can be counterproductive.

Rawlings also described efforts by which the university tries to be a "good citizen" in the community, which include a 13-year plan through which the university voluntarily compensates the city of Ithaca for services. In addition, Cornell provides the community with hundreds of hours of community service each semester through students engaged in service-learning courses or independent service activities, and through faculty and staff who serve on numerous civic boards, committees and task forces.

Rawlings confirmed his Freedom with Responsibility statement by committing to "sustained and informed discussion" about the university's role in ethics and civic responsibility issues, Bridgeman said.

"The student committee and President Rawlings agreed that the discussion illuminated serious concerns on campus that should be the focus of future discussions," Bridgeman said.

Rawlings added, "I greatly enjoyed this discussion, learned a good deal from it and agreed readily to further dialogue. The students were well prepared and organized and raised numerous useful issues."

The Public Service Center will be working to facilitate further discussions on campus issues. Students who are interested in participating in these discussions should contact the Public Service Center at 255-1148.