Campus, local communities to join Celebration of Service

Event honors Brandeis commitment to social justice

Students, faculty, staff and community partners will join together Monday for Brandeis’ annual Celebration of Service, an event held to honor the university’s longstanding commitment to community service and social justice. The event will be held in Sherman Function Hall from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

President Fred Lawrence will give opening remarks. Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy also will attend. Mayor of Waltham since 2004, McCarthy has volunteered with many organizations, including the American Cancer Society, Greater Waltham Association for Retarded Citizens and Waltham Partnership for Youth.

Jessye Kass ’13, a 2011 Sorensen Fellow, will speak about her community service experiences abroad.

Heather Bernstein ’12, a member of this year’s Celebration of Service Committee, emphasizes that philanthropy, activism and social justice are integral parts of the Brandeis experience.

“Brandeis has a great diversity of service,” she says. “Everyone is extremely committed to social justice and working towards a greater good.”

Bernstein has been a member of the Waltham Group since her freshman year and is one of hundreds of students who take part in the group’s outreach programs on campus, in the city of Waltham and around greater Boston.

Student Union President Herbie Rosen ’12 emphasizes that Celebration of Service is open to the entire Brandeis community, and provides an opportunity for people to celebrate the impact Brandeisians have made in the local and global community.

“Helping to enact social change, and working hard to make a better impact on society is very typical of Brandeis, and it is what we as a community work towards every day,” Rosen says.

After the opening remarks, refreshments will be served and students will get a chance to mingle with Brandeis faculty and alumni who have been involved with or made a career out of international and local community service. Rosen says that it can be an important networking event for students who would like to explore internship and career opportunities in philanthropic lines of work.

Celebration of Service began as a Waltham Group appreciation event in 2009. It has grown into a campus-wide opportunity for members of the Brandeis community to recognize and reflect on their accomplishments and successes.

This year, the Celebration of Service Committee has partnered with many organizations on campus, including the Department of Community Service, Waltham Group, Student Union, Future Alumni at Brandeis, Clubs in Service, Experiential and Community Engaged Learning, Hiatt Career Center, Academic Services, International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, and the Interfaith Community Service Challenge in order to make the event as large a celebration as possible.