DSU Holds First-Ever Inspired Day of Service
Delaware State University held its first-ever Inspired Day of Service on March 31, with about 250 DSU students working on community service projects at five separate locations throughout the state.
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(L-r) DSU students Amy Ruth, Daijah Davis and Bria Shelton help the Western Boys and Girls Club in Laurel to sort through donated books. |
The students worked at the People’s Settlement in Wilmington, the Food Bank of Newark, a Habitat for Humanity construction site, the Western Sussex Boys and Girls Club of Laurel, as well as the clean-up of College Road near the campus.
The day began with an opening ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center on campus, where all of the students gathered to hear encouraging words from DSU President Harry L. Williams, U.S. Sen. Thomas R. Carper, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (both senators representing Delaware), state Rep. Darryl Scott, as well as from University supporter and Wilmington activist Bebe Coker.
Also in attendance and providing remarks was Mark Edwards, the executive director of Opportunity Nation, a national organization that selected DSU along with 11 other institutions of higher education as partners to work together in its campaign to promote opportunity, social mobility and access to the American Dream.
Sen. Carper and Mr. Edward later joined Dr. Williams in Frederica, where they all pitched in with the students working on the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home. Also working at that site was Dr. Williams’ wife, Dr. Robin Williams, and their son, Gavin.
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A group of DSU students stayed closed to the campus and collected litter along the area of College Road.Other groups of DSU students did painting at the People’s Settlement in Wilmington, distribution work at the Food Bank of Newark, and landscaping and clean-up at the Boys and Girls Club in Wilmington. The students worked from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a lunch break. The DSU president also went up to the People’s Settlement in Wilmington to assist with the painting project.
The Inspired Day of Service was born of the DSU Inspired Scholarship, which requires each recipient to do 10 hours of community service work each semester. The March 31 community service day allowed many of the Inspired Students to fulfill some of that requirement.
While the Inspire Scholarship students comprised about half of the students participating in the Inspired Day of Service, the other half were students who had no such requirement, but volunteered anyway.