Looking to the Future with Villanova's Strategic Plan

Labor of
Love
As more graduates choose to volunteer
for a year of service, they write a new
chapter in the Villanova success story
By Su z a n n e We n t z e l
The installation in December of
pedestrian-level lighting along a
stretch of West Girard Avenue in
Philadelphia’s Brewerytown section
had Kevin Moran ’09 VSB dancing in the
street. The upgrade, which made the commercial
corridor brighter and safer, was a
critical step in revitalizing the neighborhood.
“It’s one of the greatest things I’ve
seen happen this year.”
A communications and public relations
specialist with the Fairmount Community
Development Corporation, a nonprofit
organization that fosters local improvements,
Moran loves to publicize such brickand-mortar
successes. In taking on this volunteer
position, he has fulfilled a desire
enkindled at Villanova: to apply his marketing
knowledge in a socially responsible way.
Moran is one of 63 members of the
Class of 2009 who have chosen to do a
year or more of service rather than take a
paying job or go to graduate school. Since
the 1990s, the number of Villanova graduates
who channel their energy and enthusiasm
into domestic and international volunteer
work has increased. And if a reality
check forces the graduates to reassess their
grand ideas of what they will accomplish,
they learn to cherish the small gains.
“My job turned out to be quite different
from the idealistic picture I had painted,”
says Eliza Pierson ’09 VSB, who currently
volunteers in Bolivia for a microfinance
institution that gives small loans to the
poor to support the development of microenterprise.
“A lot of us think we can save
the world in a year of service. The reality is
we can’t. But if we plant the seeds, we can
make a difference over a lifetime.”
Walking the talk
Volunteers attribute the discrepancy
between expectation and reality to the fact
they are coming from places of privilege
and confronting poverty in all its forms. In
choosing the path of service, they have
not delayed entry into the real world; they
have penetrated the heart of it.
In Montana, Jesuit Volunteer Peggy
Costello ’09 A&S mentors Northern
Cheyenne and Crow students residing in
the dorms of St. Labre Indian School.
Although she had been exposed to the
struggles of Native Americans during a
Habitat for Humanity trip to South
Dakota in her junior year, she is challenged
by some of the conditions she
faces. “Learning about poverty in theory is
In the last 10 years alone,
Villanova graduates have
volunteered with more than
165 agencies. Far from being
“fluff” jobs, the assignments
require students to use their
education to seek long-term
solutions and empower others.
different from living it. When you come to
know and love people affected by poverty,
it’s tough to process.”
In the last 10 years alone, Villanova
graduates have volunteered with more
than 165 agencies. Far from being “fluff”
jobs, the assignments require students to
use their education to seek long-term solutions
and empower others. “Justice
involves changing political and social
institutions,” Pierson says. “This is the
kind of change I hope to work for.”
A volunteer English teacher in Bolivia,
Laura Arendacs ’09 VSB believes the skill
she is passing on to her students will translate
into economic opportunity. “English
can be a valuable asset in achieving a
higher standard of living.” The community,
in turn, has welcomed her and shared
its stories with her, creating personal connections
that transcend geographical and
cultural differences.
The importance of solidarity was a message
the volunteers heard as students at
Villanova, where Catholic Social Teaching
is foundational to the life of the University
and service is the practical expression
of its Augustinian values. On break
trips sponsored by Campus Ministry, for
example, students reflect daily in small
groups, asking tough questions about the
causes of poverty and their own obligation
to advocate for economic justice.
“Reflection and spirituality are hallmarks
of our program,” says Beth Hassel,
P.B.V.M., D.Min., executive director of
Campus Ministry. “Yes, we want the students
to feel good about what they are
doing, but more important, we want them
to better understand what it’s like to be
poor by being in relationship with people
who are poor.”
Filling the gap
Years ago, when Campus Ministry staff
realized that students involved in weekly
service experiences and the more in-depth
break trips were asking what else they
could do to help others, they developed
the Senior Post-Grad Volunteer Program.
“If we show students dire poverty and
they come back yearning to do something
about it, then we need to provide them
with that opportunity,” says Barbara
Haenn, associate director of Campus Ministry
and the program’s coordinator. Haenn
helps students find the agencies that suit
their interests and connects them with
alumni who have walked the same path.
Approximately 85% of the students who
approach Haenn about post-graduate ser-
20 Villanova Magazine