Impact Week accomplishes goals, strengthens student connection to city

Impact Week was a success and remains the only campus-wide initiative coordinating student volunteerism with the local community.

The arguments raised by The Daily Orange in yesterday’s editorial were unfounded, as the Student Association’s scheduling of Impact Week in late October was strategic.

The sites where students volunteered, such as the Samaritan Center and the Rescue Mission, were highly appreciative that Impact Week was held during the last week in October because many people in the community who make use of these nonprofit organizations rely on government assistance and they run out of that assistance at the end of the month. Nonprofit organizations traditionally garner fewer volunteers at this time of year, as most people wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas to volunteer. Thus, the timing of Impact Week at the end of the month, at a time when those aforementioned nonprofits and those that they serve most need assistance, was coordinated so that Syracuse University students could maximize the contribution being made to the greater community.

Suggesting that Impact Week be held at the beginning of the semester demonstrates The Daily Orange’s lack of understanding of Impact Week’s primary goal: to strengthen the ties between SU students and the greater community through volunteer work. Several events are planned at the beginning of the semester in attempt to expose students to the greater community, and it would belittle the cause of Impact Week to hold a series of events simultaneously to those social events. Impact Week’s primary purpose is not to provide “fun events” for student enjoyment, but rather it exists to benefit the local community and prompt students to realize the importance of giving back.

The Daily Orange should concern itself less with student entertainment and “fun” and focus more on the context in which we live, learn and study during our time as SU students.

While the Student Association is looking to promote volunteerism and student engagement with the greater community, it seems as though the Daily Orange is looking to deter it.

The Daily Orange’s claim that the Student Association did little to promote Impact Week was blatantly false. Student Association President Alexandra Curtis spoke about it during her campus address every week on Citrus TV’s “SA Today”.

The Impact Week Gala exists as a testament to the Student Association’s success in promoting the event and garnering student volunteerism, as well as parental attendance.

Brittany R. Legasey
Co-Director of Public Relations
Student Association