Duke students to help everywhere

In a trend that bodes well for the future, college students are looking for more than just a good job, clothes and a nice apartment. Yes, they want those things, but many have larger aspirations. They also want to turn the world around.

College students still go to the Peace Corps, but they also work for AmeriCorps. They volunteer to tutor children at nearby schools and sign up to teach at inner-city schools in some of the nation's most challenging districts. They combine, in equal measure, spirits of adventure with caring souls.

If a student with those qualities is looking at colleges, he or she should definitely consider Duke. There are many good reasons, but one is a new program called DukeEngage, which is out on the cutting edge of student service learning.

When Duke decided to create a new program to emphasize service learning, it didn't think small. Officials turned to the Duke endowment and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, each of which chipped in $15 million. Nor did they limit the scope of the project. Students can follow their passions and their imaginations to choose a place -- from here in Durham to anywhere in the world -- to spend a summer or a semester.

When fully in place, the program will pay for travel and living expenses during the semester of service. For students on financial aid, it will also replace the earnings they would normally make on a summer job, a huge incentive. Up to 25 percent of Duke undergraduates may choose to participate. We're not aware of anything like it at any other university.

We should remember that Duke students already participate in similar projects. Many students volunteer in Durham, working with children and people in poverty. Others take on service projects in places like New Orleans and Third World countries. Those projects will continue, there will just be more of them.

We're not sure whether students these days enter college with a higher level of commitment to others, or whether institutions such as Duke help to incite the interest. It probably works both ways. In any case, it's a very good thing, and Duke should be commended for pushing such a hopeful trend in such a big way.

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