To the editor:

I would first like to express how much I enjoyed my four years as a student at Vanderbilt University. I felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from first-rate professors and to build lifelong friendships, all in a national arboretum. As a student, I made a conscious effort to be a part of the Vanderbilt community, writing for The Vanderbilt Hustler sports section (and attending virtually every home football and basketball game, and sometimes away games) and being actively involved in the Presbyterian Student Fellowship.

Through the Presbyterian Student Fellowship and my church back home in Memphis, I have performed mission work on various occasions, including two mission trips to Guatemala and one to El Salvador. I also worked as a teenager at the Memphis Return Baseball to the Inner City program and at Memphis Athletic Ministries. In short, mission and service to others has long been something I deeply value. Still, my experience engaging in community service in the Nashville community was limited until I enrolled in John Lachs' Introduction to Ethics course in the spring of 2008. Professor Lachs requires all 250 or so of his students to work at least 10 hours of community service during the semester. I would rate my experience working at the local Dismas House, a halfway house, among the most fulfilling I had as a Vanderbilt student. This is one reason I believe Vanderbilt University should adopt a service learning requirement for all of its students.

I believe that service learning can greatly enhance one's education. While I admit I did not know what to expect working at a halfway house, any preconceived notions quickly went away once I realized the residents and I were both equally human. By cooking and eating dinners with the residents, we were able to learn from each other and engage in worthwhile fellowship. It helped me appreciate more fully the opportunity I had receiving a world-class education at Vanderbilt, a point the residents sometimes made to me. Having all of Vanderbilt's students participate in community service of some kind would produce similar reactions, I would hope. For Vanderbilt's primarily middle and upper middle class student body, a lot could be gained from its students working with people of different backgrounds.

I understand some automatically view the word "requirement" with dismay. However, for every student that dreads helping others, I think countless more would be inspired. Doing mission work abroad and being involved in the Memphis and Nashville communities were invaluable and formative experiences in my life. I think there are others in the Vanderbilt community who simply need the motivation to serve others and could benefit just as I have giving to other people.

Sincerely,

Will Gibbons

A&S Class of 2008

Public Policy Studies