Students, alumni, faculty, and friends came together the evening of April 6 to celebrate 10 years of lending a hand through CC’s Center for Community Service. Dr. Benjamin Barber, director of the Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy and Whitman professor of political science at Rutgers University, gave the keynote address on "Service Learning and Civic Education: Indispensable Foundations for Democracy."

Anecdotes shared by Chaplain Bruce Coriell entertained the guests, who came to honor the center’s work and the many volunteers -- students, alumni, and campus departments -- who received awards. One highlight of the evening was President Kathryn Mohrman’s reading of mayoral proclamation declaring April 6, 1999, Colorado College Center for Community Service Day in Colorado Springs.

But the beautiful ceremony could only begin to reflect the heart-felt enjoyment and satisfaction community service volunteers expressed throughout the event.

Carson Beightol ’02, reflected on his BreakOut trip to southwest Oregon in March: "This trip has been amazing. We have seen deserts, mountains, rivers, forests, and ocean. We have slept in dry prairies, camp forests, and in a coastal meadow, inside and outside, dry and wet, hot and cold. We have worked together to complete two miles of Siskiyou mountain trail. We have eaten moth-ridden oatmeal, delicious stir-fry, and everything from cheese and tomato sandwiches to homemade pasta and salads at the Blue Pine. We have befriended forest rangers, a botanist, campground hosts, various hippies, and one another. We have lived through sun and rain, days without showers, cougars, bears, ghosts, giant lizards, falling trees, swinging pulauskis, bronchitis, sore throats, coughs, wet sleeping bags, cramped legs, sore muscles, and cold mornings. We have seen the beauty of an emerald green river, red rocks, red trees, desert sunrises, and ocean sunsets. We have become closer to each other and, dare I say it, closer to this earth and everything it has to offer."