Each year, I find it gets harder to fight my own cynicism. Each class, each reading, each discussion I have at Wesleyan leaves me feeling all the more certain that there are more problems in this world that even an entire college of well-intentioned, educated, and smart students and professors can fix. It’s disheartening to say the least. But to a few students and staff members, these impasses are not dead-ends. Instead, a roadblock is a signal for a better plan, a call for inspiration and perspiration. More often than not, I’m one of those students.

Wesleyan is full of people who would like to “do good.” Many even pursue these ends to some degree. Some take it to another level, making a change in a community that is their own or in which they identify some need that they can address. The work of “public service” or “community engagement” can seem thankless from the outside. Why a person truly does what he or she does is a question that reaches beyond my own contemplation. What motivates a “good deed” is only our best guess. But in the simplest terms, a volunteer or an activist does what she or he does because they see it needs to be done and that they can do it, if they just tried a little harder. Sometimes you have to try more than a little hard—sometimes despite your personal flame fueling the project, it still fails. And that failure may be, again, the end for many. But for some, it’s another beginning, an envisioning of the process or a reevaluation of the better ends of the project.

If you know of someone on this campus who fits that description, they may be a candidate for the Peter Morganstern-Clarren Award for Social Justice. Your friend or mentor may be the person who always pushes a little more than most when something needs to get done, who volunteers when it does not clearly benefit them, who moves you to be better and work harder at your own endeavors. And if that “type of person” is you, then you’ve recognized perhaps what’s most important about public service. Public service is mutualism—that you do what you do because it drives you.

The parents of Peter Morganstern-Clarren ’03 created an award to honor their son, a Wesleyan student who worked tirelessly for labor issues and organized the Wesleyan community in support of his ideals. Sophomores and Juniors who follow, perhaps unknowingly, in his footsteps are eligible to apply for this award. Staff members are eligible and can be nominated by a student, or students, who have been touched by their presence in their lives. Both staff and student awards come with a financial gift. As last year’s selected student, I felt both honored by the recognition of the selection committee and grateful for this generous gift. I urge all students who believe they are eligible to apply and all students who know of a member of Wesleyan’s staff who be a fitting recipient to nominate them.

The award has been, for me, not only a recognition of past endeavors, but another push forward towards more work to come. The award bears the name of beloved and honored student and thus, his legacy. It is not only a gift recognizing work that has been done, but a sign of faith that the recipient will carry on public service work into the future. Recipients of the Peter Morganstern-Clarren award move forward with their acts of social justice to honor an activist whose vision endures beyond his life. While seeking a professional career in an economy that has left no one untouched by strife, the knowledge that the Peter Morganstern-Clarren selection committee had confidence in me compels me to continue to seek more opportunities to make positive contributions.

For more information about the Peter Morganstern-Clarren Awards for Social Justice (either employee or student prize) please contact Dean Marina Melendez at mmelendez@wesleyan.edu. If you seek advice on the application process, you’re welcome to contact me at lmandlin@wesleyan.edu. All nominations must be in by February 26, 2010.