The Postgraduate Service Fair, sponsored by the Center for Social Concerns (CSC), took the first steps toward achieving the University's mission statement of "sensibility to the poverty, injustice and oppression" Wednesday evening in the Joyce Center, showcasing service organizations where seniors can work next year.
According to the CSC website, the service fair included booths representing the Alliance for Catholic Education, the Peace Corps, Dominican Volunteers and Jesuit Volunteer Corps, among others. Some of organizations represented operate in South Bend, and send volunteers as far away as South Africa or China, according to the CSC website.
Davis Sandefur, a senior studying physics and Irish, said he attended the Service Fair because he has volunteered at his church during the summer in various roles.
He said he was particularly interested in the Christian Appalachian Project because he is from Kentucky.
"[Service] really teaches you to be thankful for what you have ... it reminds you how lucky you are to be in an opportunity to help others," Sandefur said.
According to the CSC website, about 10-percent of graduates commit to some sort of service project within a year after their graduation. Michael Hebbeler, director of student leadership and senior transitions at the CSC, said the service fair is just one of many events the CSC will host this year to inspire more students to pursue postgraduate service, including many other visits from service organizations.
Hebbeler said the CSC will run a discernment seminar with direct ties to the Gospel.
"[The seminar] challenges students to think critically about vocation and cultivate a way of living that responds to the Gospel demands of right relationship ... in short, the path of justice," he said.
