The White House and the Corporation for National and Community Service held a conference call about Sept. 11 service projects Thursday for college reporters nationwide.
Several speakers held a media briefing for college student reporters about how college campuses and students are observing the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. On the panel were Ronnie Cho, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement; Robert Velasco, acting CEO for the Corporation for National and Community Service; CNCS chairman and Hobart and William Smith Colleges President Mark Gearan; George Washington University President Steve Knapp and Tulane Outreach chairwoman Lea Bogner.
“Beginning in 2002, family members who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attack began to seek a form of lifting tribute to honor the sacrifice of those lost and pay tribute to those who rose in service,” Velasco said during the call. “They believe that engaging in service on the 9/11 anniversary was a productive and respectful way to honor those who died and create a legacy of compassion and action to help meet the challenges we face today.”
Velasco said Congress designated Sept. 11 a national day of service and remembrance in 2009. CNCS supports this effort across the country.
Velasco proceeded to discuss how to honor the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The CNCS will provide competitive challenge grants totaling $500,000 to encourage college groups to organize large-scale service projects in relation to Sept. 11.
“In keeping with the wishes of the families of the 9/11 victims, I want to invite you to think of the anniversary of a tragic day in our history as a true call to action,” Velasco said. “I want to urge students from near campuses and every member from your respective communities to get involved. Go to [serve.gov](http://www.serve.gov), type in your zip code and find a project in your area or organize your own service project, using our toolkits.”
Cho then took over the conference call, explaining that the current college generation is now the “9/11 Generation” and that only this generation could answer the call due to the unique qualities of the generation.
“It is our generation that does not allow cowardice to define that day many years ago, not allow ignorance and hatred to harden our hearts and close off our minds, but instead remember stories of compassion and heroism and resilience that bound us together as a country, bound us together as a generation that is even more committed to helping our communities, more dedicated to service and even more understanding and accepting of the world around us,” Cho said.
Cho then encouraged college students to go to [whitehouse.gov/youngamericans](http://whitehouse.gov/youngamericans) to sign up for a newsletter where they can keep up with new service programs that would be announced soon. Gearan further elaborated the point by stating the future is bright with college students interested in community service, both locally and globally.
The next topic discussed was George Washington University’s Freshman Day of Service, launched in 2009. First lady Michelle Obama issued GWU a challenge to do 100,000 hours of community service and she would be its commencement speaker. The school completed 163,980 hours.
“We haven’t had a plan in place that is exactly like that Freshman Day of Service, but it has been brought a number of times,” Cho said. “It is something we are considering and want to pitch to all universities with or without the White Houses’ participation. We would like to encourage everyone, however, to take the bull by the horns and do this on their own.”