VOLUME 13, NO. 1     DEC 1999

Volunteerism flourishing

Two recent appointments are proof positive that volunteerism is thriving at WPI. In July, the University named Lindsay Freed its first Massachusetts Campus Compact Volunteer in Service to America. Freed, a 1999 graduate of The College of the Holy Cross, is one of only 20 MACC VISTAs in the commonwealth. She is working with Greg Snoddy, director of orientation and student activities, and his staff to encourage campus volunteerism at WPI throughout the coming year.

"A MACC volunteer is committed to community service," Freed explains. "Through this AmeriCorps program, part of the Corporation for National Service, colleges make a commitment to be involved in community service learning, which is becoming an important part of the curriculum in many schools."

Last spring, Gov. Paul Cellucci appointed Matthew W. Grabowski, a senior from Palmer, Mass., majoring in physics, to the board of the Massachusetts Service Alliance, a bipartisan group of citizens committed to community service and volunteerism.

The alliance is a nonprofit community service commission that administers state and federal funds and provides technical assistance, training and public education to more than 200 service and volunteer programs in 140 communities throughout the commonwealth. Focus areas include mentoring and tutoring children, renovating housing for the elderly, and fighting domestic violence.

Grabowski is an active state, regional and college volunteer. At WPI he is a resident advisor and a member and former service vice president for Alpha Phi Omega, the service fraternity. He was a Peer Education Program leader in Springfield, Mass., and a founding member of the Boston-based Massachusetts Youth Action Council.