This year, DPS is behind the wheel for social action.
Formed last March, Duke Partnership for Service is the new social action governance organization that oversees more than 70 service groups on campus, including Circle K, Nourish International, Camp Kesem, Habitat for Humanity and Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research.
DPS was established after the Duke Community Service Center dissolved last Spring. As a new completely student-run umbrella organization, DPS has taken strides to improve social action groups’ visibility on campus, initiate collaboration and assist with funding and student recruitment.
“In a sector of student organizations that was so dysfunctional and uncoordinated, just a little of assistance goes a long way,” said DPS President Adam Nathan, a senior.
Nathan said earlier in the semester, DPS conducted a needs assessment of student service groups to identify internal issues. The organization plans to launch a transportation fund and assume the Student Organization Finance Committee’s role in allocating funds to student service groups.
“Everything we’re doing is crucial to the health of our groups,” he said.
Another goal is to redefine social action on campus. One measure is a Happy Service Hour, during which students and groups can socialize outside of “picking up trash together or tutoring,” Nathan said. This would help pave the way to better relations in the service group circles and increase the number of long-term service projects, he added.
Senior Sam Bowler, president of Purple, a new non-profit student organization that seeks to raise awareness about various social issues, said DPS aims to redefine social action as well.
“We’re an inspiration business, and we’re going to work with DPS to inspire students to come back into these student groups,” he said.
Bowler noted that students sometimes have difficulty committing to service groups on campus.
“Every student has a whole lot on their plate... and with our social lives and academic lives… it’s difficult to look up sometimes,” he said.
Junior Joyce Kim, a member of Purple, said the group hopes to make activism and volunteering a more “organic” part of students’ lifestyles.
Although DPS was only launched a few months ago, the organization has already made headway in advancing the service aspect of Duke life, Nathan noted.
“There was just nothing like this going on before,” he said.
As a new organization, however, DPS still has a ways to go, said Circle K President George Hernandez, a sophomore. He added that DPS is still not 100-percent organized and has yet to effect concrete changes.
“I think there’s potential in DPS, but I feel like we did all this before last semester,” Hernandez said.
But Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, praised Nathan and Bowler for their visions of service and recruitment on campus, noting the importance of fresh ideas for Duke.
“Duke wants to create an environment where that diversity of models can flourish,” Nowicki said.
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