September 16, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
Last week’s bipartisan gathering at Columbia University on national service has drawn mixed reviews.
Allison Fine, a nonprofit consultant, was impressed with the rapt attention of the college students at the meeting between the presidential candidates to discuss AmeriCorps and volunteerism, she writes on A. Fine Blog.
“They are passionate about this election; but polite about other people’s choices, which was amazing to see on a campus that was literally torn apart exactly 40 years earlier during another national election,” she writes.
But Robert Egger, president of the D.C. Central Kitchen, found the discussion between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama lackluster.
“i don’t know about you, but I was pretty bummed by [the] limited dialogue about service,” he writes on his One Voice for Change blog. “Come on, people … let’s get this organized and roar forward as a country. Please.”
Read The Chronicle’s article on the national-service forum and new proposals to expand Americorps and other programs.
What do you think of the gathering? What can the next president do to promote national service?
