Doors open at new community service hub

Civic House at 3914 Locust Walk, provides space to student groups. and Erin Reilly A snip of the scissors and applause from Locust Walk spectators were all it took to signal the opening of Penn's new community service center. But it took a year of planning and a student report created by campus community service leaders to succeed in organizing most of the University's disparate community service efforts under one roof. University President Judith Rodin christened Civic House in a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday before a crowd of students, administrators and faculty members that had gathered on Locust Walk across from Hamilton House, formerly High Rise North. The three-story, 19th-century white house is intended to provide a launching pad for students interested in community service, while allowing greater communication and idea sharing between different service groups. The crowd listened to a lineup of speakers that included Interim Provost Michael Wachter, City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and College senior Cathy Hwang, president of the Kite and Key Society. "There is a sense of growing commitment to the community on campus, and this new community service center stands as the embodiment of those aspirations," Hwang said. During the 1996-97 school year, Hwang and other concerned students and faculty members formed a steering committee to discuss the need for a community service headquarters on Penn's campus. Last year, the committee put together a proposal for Civic House, and was given the go-ahead for the project earlier this year. Civic House, which occupies the building previously held by the Division of Public Safety, merged this summer with the Program for Student-Community Involvement. Civic House will now run former PSCI projects like Into the Streets, the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project and PennCORP. It will also sponsor speakers and other educational programs. But Civic House is also meant to be a gathering place and resource center for all of Penn's community service organizations. The house's office space will be home to campus organizations like the Kite and Key Society, the Penn Environmental Group and Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity. Organizers said they hope students will find the house's spacious living room, complete with fireplace and couches, to be a friendly place to plan service projects, learn more about community work, or just toss around ideas about volunteerism issues. "Anybody who wants to should just stop by," said College junior Mindy Glazier, a member of the Civic House steering committee. "We'll find something for you to do that you'll enjoy," Civic House already has big plans for this semester. Through the eighth-annual Into the Streets program, volunteers will descend upon the neighborhoods of West Philadelphia tomorrow, primed to refurbish and rebuild run-down areas. Civic House will also sponsor a Volunteer Fair along Locust Walk on Wednesday, followed by Community Service Night at the house from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Both events are informational forums for students to learn about dozens of campus and community-based volunteer opportunities. One of the goals of the house is to help carry service into the classroom as well as the community. Service-learning classes -- academically based community-service courses -- will be held in the seminar-style classroom in Civic House. "We're creating citizen leaders through the educational and service programs that go on here," said Civic House director David Grossman. The house's faculty adviser, English Professor Peter Conn, said he hopes to see several courses a day taught in Civic House once its classroom is officially listed with the registrar. After the opening ceremony yesterday, student organizers gathered in the classroom, where they snacked on fruit and cookies, answered questions for interested students and congratulated each other on the completion of the student-designed center. "Civic House will make our presence known on campus," Wharton sophomore Peter Hicks said. "We're active and celebrating and enjoying community service."