New Students Serve Community Through Urban Immersion

New Students Serve Community Through Urban Immersion

BY DAVID KAPLAN
Rice News Staff
July 30, 1998

Ten incoming Rice freshmen discovered that the perfect way to launch their
college careers is to serve the Houston community.

They all took part in Urban Immersion, an intensive, service-oriented summer
program that introduces incoming Rice students to urban issues, social needs
and the city’s cultural diversity.

During the July 8-12 event, which is sponsored by the Community Involvement
Center, students participated in community service projects, meetings with community
leaders and sampled Houston’s diverse cultural opportunities.

For incoming freshman Allie King of Boca Raton, Fla., the most memorable moment
of the program was when she talked to Alzheimer’s patients and was "able
to reach some level of understanding and connect on some human level."

King says she came away from her Urban Immersion experience realizing "how
rewarding it is to serve people," and, after hearing a talk by Professor
of Sociology Stephen Klineberg, she can begin to see "how complicated social
problems are."

Says Assistant Director for Community Involvement Tricia Sullivan, who organized
the event: "The Urban Immersion experience not only raises the students’
awareness of the social issues faced by an urban environment, it inspires them
by showing them how they can be involved in the community, introducing them
to community leaders and social service agencies working for positive social
change, and giving them a taste of the many positive aspects of this city’s
cultural and ethnic diversity."

The students visited nine local social service agencies in all. They prepared
and served breakfast to homeless clients at the Palmer Way Station, played games
with children at the DePelchin Children’s Center, helped paint a chapel at the
Star of Hope men’s shelter, did yard work at Omega House, and played bingo with
clients of Sheltering Arms’ Senior Center.

One student commented that the most valuable aspect of the experience for her
was gaining an awareness of how easy and necessary it was for her to get involved.

They also got a taste of Houston’s cultural diversity: They explored art installations
at Project Row Houses and the Menil Collection, enjoyed an Ethiopian dinner
at the Blue Nile, toured the Holocaust Museum, and listened to the Harbor Light
Choir at the Salvation Army’s men’s shelter.

Sullivan was assisted by Rice student coordinators Ryan Dohoney, Anandi Sheth,
Tina Snyder and Camille Vidal.

Lisa Wang, an incoming freshman from The Woodlands, believes that Urban Immersion
gave her some perspective as she begins her life at Rice. "During the time
when we’re stressing on grades," Wang says, "we can remember these
people. Our kind of stressing is a luxury they’d like to have."