March 27, 2006

To attract new students, colleges and universities regularly advertise favorable statistics. Common topics are the median SAT score of incoming freshmen, the percentage of graduates who’ve landed jobs in their fields of study and the average alumni salary.

At Corban College, one startling statistic typically goes unadvertised.

Nearly 20 percent of the student body is spending spring break conducting service projects throughout the world. More than 130 students left campus last week to volunteer in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Italy, Mexico, Peru and Thailand. Still others, who aren’t counted, are traveling on independent service trips.

Student service projects run the gamut. Los Angeles team members are handing out meals, playing with children and putting on a hip-hop concert in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. The goal of Italy team is to share the gospel with children by reading stories, playing games and putting on mime performances.

The 13-member New Orleans team is helping families clean up houses damaged in the 2005 flood. Other groups are doing construction work for residents in Mexico, working with children in a Peruvian orphanage, and teaching English in Thailand.

“It sounded like a great opportunity—a chance for God to use me and a chance to go somewhere I’ve never been,” said junior Mike Rich, who added that he’s hoping to use his counseling training to help Thais suffering after the 2004 tsunami disaster.

The seven outreach teams, most of them student-led, raised money for travel, a week's lodging and supplies. They began meeting on campus at the beginning of the semester to get to know each other, pray together, plan and raise funds. Most will return by the time classes resume April 3.

“I’m really looking forward to going. I think it’ll be great to get a chance to help people in such a meaningful way,” said student Kevin Franklin.