Teams dedicated to community service

In typical Cornellian fashion, the Rams athletics squads are engaged in more than just sports. They’re committed to community service in some surprising ways.

At the end of the 2017-18 academic year, Cornell athletes representing all 19 intercollegiate sports had documented a total of 2,057 hours of community service.

“Our student-athletes have very busy schedules with their rigorous academics and the time they spend with their sports. We’re asking them to take on a little more by working with people in the community. I think what they gain is as important as what they do on the field or on the court, and in the classroom,” says Director of Athletics Keith Hackett.

While Hackett has formalized the reporting, the concept of community service certainly isn’t new. In 2011, the Rams volleyball team traveled to rural schools in Nicaragua to deliver and read books to the students. In a Facebook post from the trip, Coach Jeff Meeker said, “We were able to touch the lives of many Nicaraguans and Nicaragua has certainly touched us. I leave with a renewed appreciation for the power of the human spirit, the fragility of life, and how important it is to be grateful for what we have.”

The volleyball team’s planned May 2018 return trip to Nicaragua was canceled after political unrest broke out, but the team has been active throughout the year with organizations such as the Hope Lodge for cancer patients and Relay for Life. In addition, this past year they’ve worked with Angel Tree gifts, Special Olympics, new student move-in, and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Reads program at Washington Elementary in Mount Vernon.

The men’s soccer team participates in the SAAC Reads program, visiting five kindergarten classes each Wednesday, and players are also paired with Washington Elementary students through Cornell’s Lunch Buddies program. “It’s been a great experience for the student-athletes and, I think, for the kindergartners as well,” says Coach Nate Grosse.

A special project of the women’s basketball team under Coach was to raise $1,800 for a local family of a single mother with four children during the 2017 holiday season. The team used the funds to buy gifts from the mother’s Christmas list, wrapped them, and took them to the elementary school for her to pick up.

“It was an amazing feeling to see that, as a team, we raised such an incredible amount of money for a family who was deserving of a great Christmas,” says guard . “I love the fact that community service plays such a role on our team culture. The bigger picture I think Coach Brase is trying to paint for us is that we can help the community—not by being great people on the court, but being amazing human beings off the court by helping the community that supports us.”

In February the team raised over $3,000 for the Kay Yow cancer research fund, which is named for a former women’s college basketball coach. They also delivered clothing to a San Antonio homeless shelter during a Texas tournament trip, and participated in a campus cleanup.

Hackett, who implemented a tracking system for community service at the University of Alaska prior to coming to Cornell last summer, says he’s delighted by the results.

“At the beginning of the year, I hoped we’d total 1,000 hours,” Hackett says. “We’ve almost doubled that. I’ve been in higher education for 42 years, and I’ve never seen a group of student-athletes like these. It’s community service and academics too. We had six student-athletes invited into Phi Beta Kappa this year. That’s just unheard of!”