UNCA Introduces New Students
to Community Service August 12;
Hundreds of Students to Work at 26 Sites

UNC Asheville continues its tradition of initiating all new students into the culture of community service through a massive community work day Monday, Aug. 12. This sixth annual "Bulldog Day: A Time of Service" will send some 530 people to 26 service projects in the Asheville community.

Coordinated by UNCA’s Key Center for Service-Learning, the community service day is an important part of a four-day new freshman orientation program that begins Saturday, Aug. 10.

"Bulldog Day is a great way to introduce our new freshmen to the Asheville community," said Lloyd Weinberg, associate director of the Key Center for Service-Learning. "It is also an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to meet and work together."

Some 440 new freshmen -- led by 90 faculty and staff -- will take on a wide range of projects. Teams will assist with trail maintenance at the N.C. Arboretum, tutoring students at Asheville Middle School, and collecting voter registrations in the community with the NAACP.

Other UNCA teams will lend a hand to the ABCCM, Asheville City Schools Preschool, Brooks Howell Home, Catholic Social Services, Hillcrest Head Start, Irene Wortham Center, Lewis Rathburn Center, Manna Food Bank, Our Next Generation, Pack Place, Quality Forward, Vanderbilt Apartments, Western Alliance Center for Independent Living, the YMI, the YWCA, Jones Primary, and Claxton, Dickson, Emma, Hall Fletcher, Johnston and Vance Elementary Schools.

The ABCCM shelters are regular Bulldog Day work sites. "The support we get from the UNCA community year after year is amazing," said Jennifer Shoars, ABCCM shelters volunteer coordinator. "The students who volunteer at our centers for Bulldog Day or other classroom service projects often come back and establish a regular volunteer schedule. We love having the students help out."

Jess Buhl, UNCA junior and Key Center for Service-Learning intern, is spending her second year as Bulldog Day student coordinator. "Community organizations have been quick to respond to our offer for service teams," said Buhl. "Many of the agencies we served in the past made requests again this year and a few new agencies also came on board."

This is the first year that Bulldog Day teams will work at the YMI. Students will tour the facility and then will create a mural in the auditorium from their impressions. "I know this particular work site will help the YMI build partnerships with the new students while introducing them to Asheville’s multi-cultural community," said Rita Martin, YMI executive director and a 2000 UNCA graduate. The UNCA Bulldog Day teams will create the first in a series of murals scheduled to be completed throughout the fall by local ethnic and racial groups. "As an alum, I am especially excited that UNCA freshmen will create the first mural in the series. It’s great."

Bulldog Day begins at 9 a.m. on the UNCA quad, where Chancellor James Mullen will speak to the service teams. Then the students and leaders will board buses, vans and cars for transport to their projects. Teams will return to campus at noon for lunch together in the cafeteria.

Media Contacts:

• Merianne Epstein, UNCA Public Information Director, 828/251-6676
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526