UVa Students

Service and Self: Humility and Wisdom

Service and Self: Humility and Wisdom

At the University of Virginia, we pride ourselves on being an elite university that prepares its students to serve the public. Madison House, hundreds of CIOs, and various NGOs in and around the University are full of students looking to serve, and there is a lot of good service, too. However, there is a component to public service that is necessary but often forgotten: humility. And I mean genuine humility, not just the sort we hear all too often as a preamble to accepting recognition ("I am humbled to….").

Batten Food Drive Supports 120 Local Families Through Partnership with Madison House

Batten Food Drive Supports 120 Local Families Through Partnership with Madison House

Launched as part of a new partnership between Batten and Madison House, an independent volunteer center for students at the University of Virginia, the drive complements Holiday Sharing, a program that numbers among Madison House’s oldest and has long provided Charlottesville families with food and personalized gifts for the holidays. Due to the pandemic, a community partner that had been assisting with food for the families was unable to do so this year, so the Batten community stepped in to fully fund and shop for food for all 120 families participating in the Holiday Sharing program.

Madison House Youth Mentoring Volunteer Inspires Native American Youth Through Science

Madison House Youth Mentoring Volunteer Inspires Native American Youth Through Science

Kruse, from Ridgeland, Mississippi, is a fourth-year student in the McIntire School of Commerce. She initially got involved in the program because of her prior experience in advocacy work.

“Ultimately, the goal of the program is for students to learn about environmental science through a native lens,” Kruse said. “Maelee Hearington, another UVA student, and I wrote the curriculum to focus on science, social activism and social justice. We also provide additional resources like workbooks, markers, easels and notebooks.”