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Mission
The Center for Service and Justice (formerly the Community Service Program) serves as a liaison between the Fordham community and the local community. We provide support and resources to students interested in social change offering ongoing and one-time service opportunities, various service-learning options, non-profit and public service internships and social justice experiences. We offer support and resources to faculty members who want to connect their research or courses to community-based issues. Finally, CSJ (frm. CSP) offers resources to local community-based organizations including volunteer and internship recruitment, job advertisements, connections to faculty and academic departments and access to university facilities and athletic games.
At the 2000 JUSTICE Conference, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Father Kolvenbach called for American Jesuit Higher Education for Faith and Justice identified by three characteristics: "Who our students become, in what our faculty do and in how our universities proceed." Therefore, we believe that a well-rounded Jesuit education includes learning outside our Fordham classrooms, walls and gates and into the streets of our local community.
History
In 1999, CSP (now CSJ) helped establish the Service-Learning Program where students can apply volunteer work to an academic course and receive one additional credit. The one credit program, a student-initiated effort, has been thriving ever since. In addition, CSP has and continues to offer support to faculty members who want to offer courses with a service-learning component, most recently in the New Course Initiative backed by the Deans of Fordham College at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center.
In 2002, CSP formally added an office at the Lincoln Center campus hiring a full-time staff person and extending community service resources offered to the LC community. The Community Service Program Office at LC has also grown tremendously offering a variety of special project and ongoing volunteer opportunities in the local community and across NYC.
In August of 2007, CSP added another full-time staff person at the Rose Hill campus to better support Service-Learning Initiatives. We currently have four full-time staff members committed to empowering our students and local communities to create social change and an anti-racist society.
With the support of President Fr. Joseph A. O’Hare, the Community Service Program (now the Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice) started informally in 1983 through student involvement in organizing in the local community. Since then, CSP has grown by leaps and bounds offering a variety of volunteer, internship and social justice opportunities to the Fordham community.
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