When Washington University senior Jacob Siegel first began studying aikido last October while abroad in Paris, he recognized in its pacifist philosophy a potential for social change.

“In aikido, there is never that goal of injuring someone else or hurting my body in order to achieve a certain goal,” Siegel said. “And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to take aikido to teach kids about nonviolence?’”

What started as a mere idea became a six-week-long summer program called Inner City, Inner Peace at the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club in St. Louis involving two professional aikido instructors, 25 children from the city and Siegel himself.

“It was a concept to use nonviolent art to talk about nonviolence,” Siegel said.

Siegel stressed the importance of teaching and promoting nonviolence to younger age groups, because “when you’re older and you’re in a violent situation, it’s almost too late.”

To help bring his plan into action, Siegel needed funding. He applied for the Stern Social Change Grant offered through the Community Service Office (CSO).

Siegel drafted a proposal and connected with local organizations and individuals he believed would be interested in collaborating on the project. His hard work paid off. After a competitive selection process, Siegel received the $6,000 from the grant, which he used to pay the expenses for starting up the project and for the summer’s room and board in St. Louis.

“One of the biggest purchases was gym mats. You’d be surprised how much nice gym mats cost,” he said.

Although Siegel paid the two other aikido instructors, the amount was so small that “it was much more like volunteer work.”

Siegel himself made no salary from the summer, and he paid some of the program expenses from his own pocket. Despite the disadvantage of not being paid, Siegel said he had an invaluable experience that gave him a new perspective.

“I gained experience in the non-profit field, searched for a grant and did some serious networking,” he said. “I also gained a perspective on how much more work is left to be done.”

This is precisely what the Social Change Grant program organizers hope students will take from the overall experience, said Stephanie Kurtzman, director of the CSO.

Kurtzman also emphasized that Siegel’s grant was hard-won money.

“It’s a competitive process and requires rigorous preparation. Applicants need to have already done the footwork, having identified their mentors and made contacts in the community,” Kurtzman said. “It’s really saying, ‘The only thing that stands between me and this project is the funding.’”

A selection committee of University faculty and staff members determine the winning proposals in a paper review process that first singles out the students the committee is interested in speaking with further. Given the number of available grants, only a handful of these prospectives go on to become finalists.

The finalists are then required to give a presentation during which they also answer questions from the selection committee. Kurtzman calls this time “engaging in a conversation” about the project’s viability, sustainability and how it will have an important community impact.

Each year, the CSO typically receives around 25 proposals.

“And those are people who stayed with the process,” Kurtzman said.

Siegel’s proposal and presentation was one that especially impressed the committee, according to Kurtzman.

“His preparation was stellar. He had a really thoughtful concept, and it was complete in the sense that he had incorporated many different layers into the project,” she said. “He was also extremely polished in presentation and had a solid community partnership.”

Although the majority of applicants are turned down, Kurtzman said the application process is still beneficial because it educates and prepares students for writing proposals and organizing social change projects in the future. The CSO provides applicants with workshops and individual mentors and also guides them toward other helpful resources on campus.

“This is a friendlier process than the way it works in the real world,” Kurtzman said. “You’re nurtured along the way.”

“It is inspiring to see these people with big dreams for changing the world and the capacity for making it happen.”

With the Jewish New Year only 16 days away, the staff at the St. Louis Hillel at Washington University, and involved students, are finalizing plans for High Holiday services with an additional focus in mind this time—the greater involvement of faculty in service events.

As in the past, students will have the option of attending two services on campus or attending any of the local synagogues in the area. Typically, the services are led by undergraduate students and one guest rabbi, with a different rabbi for the reform and conservative services.

While both the reform and conservative services offered on campus are student-run and led, Hillel has worked to change the overall feel of services by inviting University professors and administrators to give sermons on a variety of topics instead of continuing with the convention of having the guest rabbi give a theological sermon each day.

This year, the Saturday morning conservative service will feature professor Assaf Shelleg, the University’s Efroymson Visiting Israeli Scholar. Shelleg will speak about Jewish identity through Israeli music, with an emphasis on the liturgy of the service.

“I think [faculty] will make the services more attractive to individual students, because they may be interested in hearing a particular member of the faculty or an administrator,” said Michael Landy, executive director of St. Louis Hillel. “Those people have a sense of campus life and student life, and I think they will work hard to speak to the student body.”

Landy also notes that many students will appreciate seeing their role models and other important University figures involved with services.

“It is important to see the way that [these faculty] see Jewish campus life,” he said.

The conservative service, which will convene at the Hillel house, will hear from Landy and guest rabbi Allen Selis on Friday night, with the two speakers welcoming students to services.
Selis will speak on the second day of Rosh Hashana, the holiday celebrating the Jewish New Year, and on Yom Kippur morning, while Landy will speak at Kol Nidrei, the evening service that starts observance of the Yom Kippur holiday.

The reform service, which will meet in May Auditorium in Simon Hall, will hear from a different speaker each day. Landy and guest rabbi Dale Schreiber, rabbinic pastor for Barnes-Jewish Hospital, will speak on Friday night before Hank Webber, the University’s executive vice chancellor for administration, is scheduled to speak tentatively on connecting Judaism from generation to generation on Saturday.

The Reform service also features two guest speakers on Yom Kippur. Stephanie Kurtzman, Director of the Community Service Office,  will speak on Kol Nidrei on seeing holiness through the eyes of a child, and Risa Zwerling, wife of Chancellor Mark Wrighton and a four year academic adviser, will speak on hospitality on Yom Kippur morning.

Landy said that while the Hillel staff is responsible for arranging the logistics, the students involved have been an integral force behind the services.

“The services themselves are something that we’re thrilled that a group of students are engaged in [by] recruiting leaders, and they are part of the decision-making process of how the services look and feel,” Landy said. “The students really invest the time and energy to make the services make sense to students and to work with the Hillel staff, guest rabbis and other participants of the service.”
As in year’s past, Chabad on Campus will also be running High Holiday services. Chabad will host services and dinner on both evenings of Rosh Hashanah and will also host Kol Nidrei and Neilah services. Rabbi Hershey Novack will also blow the shofar on campus throughout the afternoon on the second day of Rosh Hashanah for those who do not attend services.

Aside from those offered at Hillel and Chabad, students also have the option of attending services at other local synagogues. Many Orthodox Jews on campus go to Bais Abraham on Delmar Boulevard.

“We definitely see students as a big part of the community, and they give a lot to the community by leading services and giving energy,” said Hyim Shafner, rabbi at Bais Abraham.

While the service is Orthodox, Shafner explained that all students who have attended services have felt at home.

“We make a real effort to be welcoming to everybody…That’s really one of the unique things about the synagogue. It brings an Orthodox passion to prayer but combines it with an extreme openness,” Shafner added. He did request that people call ahead, though, so the synagogue is prepared.

“The thing that is difficult for students when they come to campus, especially as freshmen for the first time, is that it is never going to feel like it did at home,” Landy said. “Because the holiday [Rosh Hashanah] has such a strong feeling of family from gathering for meals and services, students should seek out their new campus family—that’s what’s going to make the holiday stay significant for most students.”

Rosh Hashanah will begin on the evening of Sept. 18 and will last until dusk on Sept. 20, since the Jewish calendar is lunar. Yom Kippur starts Sept. 27 and will end at sundown the next day. It is the tradition for all Jews to fast on Yom Kippur, excluding young children and people who are ill.

With additional reporting by Josh Goldman.

Correction (9/02/09, 4:20 p.m.)

In an earlier version of this story, it was reported to us that Dean Webber was reported to be speaking on connecting Judaism from generation to generation. This is only a tentative topic. It was also briefly reported that Stephanie Kurtzman is a Hillel board member, which is not true. Student Life regrets these errors.

A total of $22,000 will be given out this year through two Stern Social Change Grants, one Kaldi’s Social Change Grant and one Gephardt Social Change Grant.

This year, approximately 20 to 30 students applied for the four available grants, either individually or in groups.

“I’m really satisfied with the number [of students who applied], because this isn’t something that’s good for just anybody,” said Stephanie Kurtzman, director of community service.

By the time the proposals were finalized, all the students seemed very qualified since they had to put a fair amount of work into their plans by then, according to Kurtzman.

“By the time we get to people who apply, they are very serious, and we could give these grants to just about anybody who applies, because by that point in the cycle they are all such strong projects,” Kurtzman said. “I would give a lot of credit to the students who are pursuing grants, and what the students submit is absolutely remarkable and is really inspiring, and it’s a reminder to me every year when the applications come in why we spend so much time to do this.”

Students began forming their proposals in the fall. The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies offered an “IdeaBounce” for students to present a summary of their visions in order to receive feedback for their real proposals.

Applicants then submitted their proposals. The finalists each presented a speech about their plans to the selection committee so that the committee had a chance to ask questions about individual proposals before the grants were awarded.

II Luscri, student services coordinator at the Skandalaris Center, is also happy with this year’s proposals.

“I do know from the ideas that were presented in the IdeaBounce that there should be some pretty good ideas out there,” Luscri said.

The grants help fund students’ ideas and enable them to complete their desired projects.

“Basically, the social change grants are really oriented toward social entrepreneurship for students to have the funds to pursue an innovative entrepreneurial community grant over the summer,” Kurtzman said. “This is really for people who dream up an idea and can identify something tangible enough that can be done for the summer.”

Bo Zhang, a junior who applied for a grant, has already been informed that she will not receive one. She proposed to start a library for a village in China.

“They gave me feedback, and one problem with the grant was that it was providing books, and the spirit of the grant was actual action of change,” Zhang said.

Kurtzman mentioned that while finances also seem to influence the proposals, they still barely cover the costs of some projects.

“[A lot of people] have an idea that they really want to pursue that in the broadest of terms can make the world better in some way, but they can’t just take off for the summer and do it without financial backing, so that’s really where [the proposal] came from,” Kurtzman said.

The grants allow the students to take the summer to work on what they choose, instead of being paid for working at a job or an internship. Recently, there has been an increased interest in international projects.

Between airfare, vaccinations, passports and visa costs, the grants often do not cover the full cost of students’ projects.

The Gephardt grant specifically goes to students wishing to work abroad. Along the realms of grants being used for specific activities, Kurtzman hopes that more donors will supply grants.

“My hope and dream is that as we go, and I don’t expect something to flood in on us especially in this economy, but that donors can supply developed grants that meet their interests. I would love to have broad, open grants, but frankly if I had a choice, I would love to just [have any grants], and I think that’s a way for a supporter to support something that’s close to their hearts,” Kurtzman said.

Luscri also said that the current economic conditions are unfavorable for the grant proposers.

“I would assume that this summer, since funding resources are tight all over, that there is going to be even more of a demand [for the grants],” Luscri said.

Overall, the experience of pursuing one’s proposal is viewed as very worthwhile for students.

Junior Priya Sury traveled to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to work on HIV issues in maternity centers. She liked it so much that she will be returning again to expand her programming.

“We enjoyed the experience a lot,” Sury said.

The hurricane hit a region devastated in Aug. 2005 when Hurricane Katrina left the New Orleans, La. area and swaths of the Gulf Coast in ruins.

Now, University leaders like Stephanie Kurtzman, director of the Community Service Office (CSO), and junior Jeff Nelson, vice president of administration, are encouraging Washington University students to come together to aid Gustav recovery efforts much like they did after Katrina’s destructive impact.

“As students at elite institutions, we take much for granted,” Nelson said. “I hope all of us, no matter what groups we are involved in, can take even just a few moments to think of how we can contribute. Whether it is by sending money, by sending food or by going to help out, I think we all have a responsibility.”

Gustav peaked at Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, packing maximum sustained winds of 150 mph with higher gusts. It made landfall about 50 miles southwest of New Orleans, La. on Sept. 1 as a Category 2 storm, with winds of 110 mph.

Though not as destructive as Katrina, Gustav is blamed for at least 110 deaths in the United States and Caribbean nations, cutting off power for more than one million U.S. residents and causing as much as $10 billion in damages—damages potentially making the hurricane one of the 10 costliest Atlantic hurricanes in history.

Kurtzman believes that Gustav will likely not receive as much attention in the University community as Katrina because Gustav was not as damaging, but she hopes that members of the University community remember many people victimized by Katrina are still suffering, and many more were made worse off by Gustav.

“The sad thing is Katrina is still devastating a lot of people, but it’s not a popular topic anymore,” she said. “It’s not just about while the crisis is happening, it’s about the long-term rebuild and response. Those needs will continue even after it leaves the headlines.”

According to Kurtzman, students can get involved in several ways. Students who know of Gustav-related events can share them with the CSO, which then publishes event listings in its semiweekly newsletter.

She is also confident that many social action groups on campus will start their own relief initiatives. Additionally, the CSO sponsors several service trips each year.

Student Union (SU) has not yet decided how it will approach the Gustav relief efforts. According to junior Jeff Nelson, vice president of administration, the SU Executive Committee will be meeting today to discuss the situation.

But Nelson emphasized that students understand the seriousness of disasters like Gustav.

“During these times it is important for us to not think of what a student group is going to do, what Student Union is going to do or what the administration is going to do,” he said. “We have to place ourselves in the shoes of individuals who are affected by these types of events…events that they can’t control.”

At the same time, Kurtzman emphasized that while there are numerous worthy causes in the world in need of aid, it is often very difficult to contribute aid to all of them.

“I think we always have to draw a careful line in how we respond to need in the community because there is constant need everywhere, and every community’s story is pressing to somebody,” Kurtzman said.

In the case of Hurricane Katrina, response from the University was widespread. In addition to an all-school meeting to coordinate University-based relief efforts, a group known as Project SOS (Students of the South) was formed to coordinate additional relief efforts, including money collection, fundraising events, and trip to the affected areas, and the CSO also shared information with the University on numerous relief events and initiatives.

Students believe that student involvement in Gustav recovery efforts is a worthy cause, and many are mindful of Katrina’s continued impact.

“I think it’s a good idea, especially after Hurricane Katrina, I feel like lot of us didn’t do as much as we could especially since I was still in high school, so now that I’m more aware of how terrible it was I don’t want that to happen again,” sophomore Laura Steefel-Moore said. “I feel like they never have fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina yet, there’s still a lot of work to be done down there.”

However, senior Andrew Pazendak feels that while Gustav is a worthy cause, many other worthy causes exist, and it is not possible to aid them all.

“There’s so many things I feel like we all should get involved in, but if we got involved in all of them I feel like we’d be overwhelmed,” he said.