In 1985 the presidents of Brown, Georgetown and Stanford universities created the National Campus Compact, whose sole mission was to encourage and support “service learning.”

“Service Learning” is a teaching method that incorporates community service into the classroom curriculum. This gives students real-world experience in their field by undertaking projects for the good of the community.

Picking up trash at Lake Michigan is service. Studying water samples from that same Lake Michigan water under a microscope is learning. But if the same students collect and analyze the water samples and then present their findings to a local pollution-control agency, service learning has occurred. This teaching method enriches learning by engaging students in useful service to their communities.