Many campuses offer awards or other forms of recognition to encourage student involvement in service. The typical award serves one of two purposes, focusing either on spotlighting achievements to inspire others, or on providing those who have done well with the opportunity to take their work a step further.

Recognition events, award presentation ceremonies, and graduation awards are some examples of the former. An example of the latter is the Eugene Lang Opportunity Grant, a recognition program at Swarthmore College. The grants are awarded to five to ten incoming students who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to service in their years before college. The awards then serve as impetus for the students to go even further in college and become leaders in service both on and off campus.

Students who earn the Lang award are required by the school to take part in intensive and self-directed service programs in and around the college s community. Students fulfill this requirement by participating in various extracurricular projects and nonprofit internships. Students may also choose to create an organization of their own. For those who choose this option, the Lang award will provide up to $10,000 to get the new program up and running.

Lang awardees meet with one another several times each year to provide a support network and discuss the progress of their individual projects. With guidance from professors and professionals in the community, students continue to develop insights into their service work.

In these ways, the Lang award not only recognizes new students for what they have done in the past; it gives them the motivation and support to continue that work in the future. Lang students help develop new service projects in the community, create new links with community members, and inspire other students to serve.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

For more information: http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/langgrants/