Our large scale events are offered to provide the campus with opportunities to get involved in projects held throughout the year. These projects are quickly becoming campus traditions and typically have a lot of volunteer sign-ups. The EV Program likes to hold a couple of these projects per quarter. These projects serve a large amount of people in a short amount of time, but the impact is lasting.
Fall Quarter
Eagle UP:
The first service project to kick off the beginning of the school year, Eagle UP is a Welcome Week tradition that allows for 250 incoming freshmen and transfer students to spend a few hours, on the day before Fall quarter begins, serving the community alongside their peers. Staff, faculty, and student leaders from around the campus serve as site leaders, ensuring that students meet plenty of people they might normally interact with during their time at EWU. Fifteen to twenty community partners are chosen to be the service sites. Students usually receive a free lunch and t-shirt before being sent to their sites. Transportation is always included as well.
Harvest Fest:
A campus tradition for over 14 years, the OCE took on the task of coordinating Harvest Fest in 2013. Every year on Halloween, over 350 children (toddlers-5th graders) come to campus to trick-or-treat around the buildings on campus. Between the children and their parents, approximately 750 people visit the campus for this event. Staff and faculty donate candy and hand it out as the children are led through the buildings on the Tour Map, groups are led by EWU students dressed up in costumes. After the tours, the families can attend a carnival co-hosted by the Cheney Kiwanis. Community Partners include Cheney Kiwanis and the local Fire Department. Campus Partners include Sorority and Fraternity Life, Eagle Entertainment, Residence Life, and many more.
Winter Quarter
MLK Day of Service:
Making it a day on and not a day off, the MLK Day of Service honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy in communities by spending our morning participating in the community-wide Unity March, and then serving local nonprofits after the Unity March. The service project includes students from EWU, Whitworth, WSU, SFCC, and Gonzaga. Local AmeriCorps members also serve at the nonprofits. This event seeks to unite change agents across many institutions to give back for a few hours on MLK Day.
Days of Kindness:
Started in 2013, in response to the Sandy Hook shooting, Days of Kindness is a campus tradition in which students, staff, and faculty orchestrate acts of kindness (random or planned) around campus and the community. The goal is to spread kindness and strengthen the community. Days of Kindness kicks off on the first day back to class after President’s Day, and lasts seven days. Every year Days of Kindness grows, and we continue to raise the bar on how many acts of kindness we’d like to see!
Spring Quarter
JustSERVE Alternative Spring Break:
Started in 2015, JustSERVE was created to give students the opportunity to spend their spring break giving back to a community. Founded on the pillars of Social Justice, Community, and Simple Living, participants learn about social injustices communities face, and they have the opportunity to spend a week meeting community needs. For example, JustSERVE 2015 was spent serving the community of Sisters, Oregon via Habitat for Humanity.
