This year's third annual CommUniversity Day of service marks the first time Saint Mary's students will be involved in the event, community commissioner Katie Cuda said.
Cuda said Claire Sokas, a CommUniversity Day coordinator at Notre Dame, reached out to her to get Saint Mary's involved in the day's service projects. Cuda and Sokas have cooperated with their respective student bodies to increase student involvement in CommUniversity Day.
"By including Saint Mary's in CommUniversity Day, I feel that the two schools will be able to reach more and more of the South Bend community now and in the future," Cuda said. "Having students mingle with community members will continue to make the South Bend area a top priority for community service projects."
Cuda said the goal of CommUniversity Day is to unite students from both Saint Mary's and Notre Dame in assisting the surrounding South Bend community. Service projects like painting fire hydrants, collecting food donations and placing notices on storm drains provide students with a great opportunity for students to get involved and give back to the community, she said.
But, Cuda said, the most important aspect of CommUniversity Day is strengthening the connection between Saint Mary's, Notre Dame and the surrounding South Bend community.
"It is so often that students here forget they are part of the greater South Bend community, a community that, — like most others — needs help at times," Cuda said. "CommUniversity Day is a great way to get a large group of students doing community service, and covering a larger area rather than only a few students at a time."
Many CommUniversity activities will take place on Notre Dame's campus. Cuda hopes to incorporate service projects at Saint Mary's in the future. From now on, the community commissioners at Saint Mary's and Notre Dame will collaborate to make a joint CommUniversity Day a reality, Cuda said.
Students participating in CommUniversity Day service projects should visit communiversityday.nd.edu for additional information about individual projects. Transportation will be provided between the Notre Dame campus and the project sites. The day's events will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will end with a picnic for participants and community members at the Robinson Community Learning Center.
