A Tradition of Public Service

Public service to Cambridge, Boston and other nearby communities has long been a part of life at Harvard. The University was founded in 1636 to meet the community's needs for training young people in religious and public service. While much has changed in the centuries since, the ethic of public service called for in Harvard's original charter has not.

In a recent directory to community programs at Harvard, President Rudenstine said, "We are full participants and partners in the life of these communities and we intend to do our share in helping to sustain the vitality and quality of our common living environment."

More than two-thirds of all undergraduates participate in public service at some time in their careers. Graduate students also do their part, providing free medical care at homeless shelters, free dental care to pediatric AIDS patients, and tutoring, mentoring, and counseling at hospitals, schools, and senior centers. The oldest and most extensive public service organization is the century-old Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) (617-495-5526; http://www.pbha.org/), which offers broad opportunities in social service and social action through 71 student-run program committees involving more than 1,500 students.

Among the PBHA programs are: Peace Games, a violence prevention, conflict resolution education program for fifth- and sixth-grade students; ExperiMentors, a program for teaching science in the public schools; and Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment, which tutors Southeast Asian immigrants in ESL and college preparation.

Undergraduates are also actively involved in a variety of other independent programs, including: House and Neighborhood Development (HAND) (617-495-3756), which promotes relationships between Harvard students and the surrounding Cambridge community; Education for Action (617-495-8604), a Radcliffe social action committee; CityStep (617-496-7109), working with Cambridge fifth- and sixth-graders teaching dance, and culminating in a spring performance; and First-Year Community Service program, which organizes projects such as weekly Soup Kitchen nights and work at the student-run University Lutheran homeless shelter.

In addition to term-time activities, students are encouraged to continue public service activities in the summer and after graduation through an active counseling program centered in the Office of Career Services. This office also administers several public service fellowships that enable students to receive stipends when working as volunteers in nonprofit agencies.

Phillips Brooks House summer activities include 13 intensive programs in which undergraduates live and work in urban public housing developments like Mission Hill and Academy Homes. These programs have been featured in the media and held up as national models by human service and governmental agencies.

Several of Harvard's professional schools maintain partnerships with local public schools, providing opportunities for students and faculty to engage in tutoring and other public service activities. For example, Business School students regularly volunteer at the Taft Middle School in Brighton, while Kennedy School students maintain a similar partnership with the Graham and Parks Elementary School in Cambridge.

Students in other Harvard professional schools serve their local communities in other ways. Harvard Law School, for example, is the largest non-governmental provider of legal services to the entire Boston community.

The Office of the Assistant Dean for Public Service of Harvard College and Director of the Phillips Brooks House supports all public Service Fund grants (617-496-1740).

Harvard employees also donate more dollars to charity, through the annual Community Gifts through Harvard campaign, than any other educational institution in Greater Boston.

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