'Men and Women for Others' Give Back During Week of Service
Last month, students, faculty, and staff came together to participate in the Dolan School Week of Service. For the second year in a row, a planning committee of Dolan School students, faculty, and staff designed and coordinated 14 service opportunities for the University to participate in during one week in March. Nearly $2,000 was raised and participation almost doubled to 350+ students, faculty, and staff.
“We are thrilled that our second annual Dolan School of Business Week of Service generated such a resounding response from our faculty, staff, and students – all taking time to give back to the community in meaningful ways,” said Dawn DeBiase, L.C.S.W., assistant dean and director of undergraduate programs at the Dolan School. “I believe this year’s initiatives really served to institutionalize our Week of Service into the fabric of the Dolan School. We are proud of creating tangible opportunities for our students, faculty, and staff to collaborate and demonstrate that they truly are ‘men and women for others.’”
Service included partnerships with local organizations including the Future Business Leaders Association at Central High School in Bridgeport, meal preparation and delivery with the Norma Pfriem Urban Outreach Initiatives in Bridgeport and Operation Hope in Fairfield, volunteer opportunities with the Wakeman Boys and Girls Club in Bridgeport and service work through Simply Smiles, a Norwalk-based non-profit organization dedicated to building bright futures for impoverished children, their families, and their communities.
New this year, students organized a Lip Sync Battle as the Week’s kick-off event to raise money for Hole in the Wall Gang, a camp founded by Paul Newman that creates fun and friendship for seriously ill children and their families. Over 100 spectators packed Alumni Hall to see student, faculty, and staff go head-to-head and battle it out for first place. The winners of this year’s Lip Sync Battle were Corey Novak '13, MA 17, assistant director of undergraduate admission, Nicole Lambi ’17 and Damian Rosales ’17. Tim Johnston ’18 and Matt Ragone ’18 took second place.
“We wanted to plan an event that would bring the students and teachers outside of the classroom to come together and have fun, said AJ Pope ’18 who helped plan the event. “Teachers asked their students to be their ‘backup dancers’ and they even coordinated full choreographed routines. We had a larger audience than anticipated and the feedback was nothing but positive, [and] to top it all off, the event benefited a great cause.”
The Dolan School would like to thank Anthony Crasto ’18, Joe Pisano ’18, AJ Pope ’18, and Brianna Tancredi ’17 for their leadership and participation in planning this year’s Week of Service.
See photos from the Lip Sync Battle
