Published: November 25, 2009 08:28 pm         

Rose-Hulman students step away from their studies to serve others

TERRE HAUTE — More than 230 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology students joined faculty and staff members to provide helping hands to 25 Terre Haute organizations during the college’s Rose-Hulman Day of Service event Nov. 7. The event was organized by the Student Activities Office and sponsored by Rincon Research Corp.

Rose-Hulman was cited by the Corporation for National and Community Service on the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to their communities. The honor roll is the highest federal recognition a college can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovation of service projects and percentage of student participation in service activities.

Projects on the work schedule for this year’s Rose-Hulman Service Day included:

• Terre Haute Humane Society — Residents of Speed residence hall designed and built a cover for a dog run site near the Humane Society’s office.

• Light House Mission Ministries — Leaders of the Residence Hall Association repaired fences, outdoor light fixtures and a cracked foundation, installed a new dryer and cleared brush to improve safety at a shelter home for teenage girls.

• Hospice of the Wabash Valley — Members of the Delta Sigma Phi and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternities, and Blue Key National Honor Society completed a long list of fall home improvement projects for five local families.

• American Cancer Society — Members of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority worked with ACS staff to paint the interior of the organization’s Terre Haute office to help create a professional, but comfortable, setting for visiting cancer patients and family members.

• Community Alliance & Services for Young Children — Members of the Society of Women Engineers and Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity assisted at CASY’s Crop & Craft fundraising event, helping persons complete crafts, distributing supplies, handling event registration and organizing lunch.

• Trees Inc. — Rose-Hulman’s Efficient Vehicles team members removed tree stakes and growth guiding wires from trees that have been planted throughout the city over the past three years by Trees Inc.

• Wabash Valley Habitat for Humanity — Triangle fraternity members helped construct a new residential home for a local family.

• Dobbs Park — Alpha Tau Omega fraternity members spread mulch at sites throughout the city park.

• St. Ann Medical Clinic — The Student Alumni Association completed fall house cleaning projects at the medical clinic.

• United Campus Ministries — Residents of Deming residence hall completed a variety of fall clean up chores at the Campus Ministries Center in downtown Terre Haute.

• Boys Scouts of America — The Alpha Chi Sigma chemistry fraternity helped local Boy Scouts take steps toward earning the chemistry and science merit badges.

• Trinity Lutheran Church — Students helped church members with fall cleanup projects.

• Hawthorn Park — Students removed honeysuckle from several locations throughout the county park.

Faculty, staff members and graduate assistants that served as project team leaders were Jameel Ahmed, Sue Dayhuff, Karen DeGrange, Sami and Matt DeVries, Lynn Degler, Jim Hanson, Erik Hayes, David Haynes, Donna and Pete Gustafson, Calvin Lui, Tyler Masterson, Merry Miller, Dee Reed, Randy Stakeman, Charles Walls, Teresa Weimann and Scott Williams. Also, Josh Abrams and Mike Jones from Facilities Operations gathered supplies used by the project teams.