Universities try to build bond with communities

For the students of the University, the town can feel like a home away from home.

But some administrators are considering ways to bring them to the town’s front door.

“When we come here, we should be at home,” said Lynn Blanchard, director of the Carolina Center for Public Service. “We should all feel a commitment to the communities we live in.”

During Week of Welcome, new students can participate in a Franklin Street scavenger hunt, which allows the students to roam the downtown area and discover local businesses.

“It shows them what’s available to them in such a diverse college town,” said Michele Stauffer, associate director for new student programs. “Many freshmen don’t have cars so we try to show them what’s available in walking distance.”

But schools such as Duke University — which was ranked fifth on The Princeton Review’s list of universities with strained town relations — are going the extra mile to improve town relations, especially among its new students.

Duke funded a trip to a Durham Bulls game Thursday night for all of its incoming freshman and sponsored a night out on the town at the American Tobacco Complex.

Officials at UNC — which didn’t receive a ranking on either the good or the bad town relations lists — said that such activities are unnecessary for University students because there is a natural interaction between students and the town.

“I don’t think we have as much of a challenge as Duke in those regards,” said Chancellor James Moeser, noting the proximity between campus and downtown. “It is such a seamless border.”

“The way their campus lies, you just don’t have the natural connection that we do with Franklin Street and with the town of Chapel Hill,” he added. “In fact, in some ways, Franklin Street is the best thing Duke has as well.”

Duke also has Project BUILD — Building Undergraduate Involvement in the Life of Durham — which allows new students to go out in the community to participate in service opportunities like Habitat for Humanity.

“I think what Duke is doing to get their students out in public service to clean up, you kno­w —­I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Moeser said. “And we should find a way to engage our students productively.”

Margaret Jablonski, vice chancellor for student affairs, said she thinks the University should create a formal public service campaign to further improve town relations.

While there are several organizations on campus — such as Campus Y — that provide public service opportunities, Jablonski said she wants to develop a system where students can go to one place and find a comprehensive list of charitable possibilities.

Jablonski said that when she worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology there was a Web site that listed the needs of more than 100 local agencies for students to aid through service projects.

“We’re trying to match students’ interests in public service with the needs that local agencies tell us they have,” she said. “We need some way to facilitate that match.”

Blanchard said that the Carolina Center for Public Service sends out weekly e-mails listing available service opportunities but that a more organized way to do this would be beneficial to the community.

“Carolina students come here with a background of public service,” she said. “It’s important to understand that there are ways to use our talents locally as well as internationally.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.