SCCAP defines image, recruits new members

By Lindsey Hart

To counter low volunteer numbers, members of the school's Community Action Program are hosting a week of activities to raise awareness of their student-run organization and to attract new volunteers.

SCCAP Week, which began Tuesday and ends Feb. 28, includes a series of events including a discussion on homelessness, face painting, a volunteer information session and a movie night.

"Our volunteer numbers have gone down drastically this year," said Josh Crosson, director of SCCAP's Fire Department, which is focused on the empowerment of certain socially oppressed and minority groups.

"It's the first time we're doing this."

But Heidi Kallen, SCCAP director, says membership is seasonal.

"I wouldn't say that it was lower. In the fall it's always lower, but then in the spring it fills up," she said.

Crosson speculates that due to the fact that SCCAP representatives had limited visibility during freshman orientation, this hurt student awareness of the program.

"A lot of freshmen don't know what SCCAP is because of that," he said.

Crosson has simply found many potential volunteers are thinking, "'I don't have the time to do it'."

He acknowledges the stereotype SCCAP has as "hippies without any shoes," but is making an effort to change this.

Members are fighting the stereotype by trying to clearly define and explain each of the programs the organization supports by hosting events such as SCCAP Week and the SCCAP Fair, which is held in Benson once per quarter.

"People have this idea of what a SCCAP employee or SCCAP person looks like, and some of them may fit the stereotype, some of them don't," Crosson said.

While some students may jest with stereotypes, the university is supportive of the student-run organization, which seems to embody the Jesuit emphasis on social justice both inside and outside the classroom.

"SCCAP is important and really directly supports the mission and the goals of the university," Dean of Student Life Jeanne Rosenberger said. "Not only that it supports it but I think they're a great example of how important and unique the contributions of students in SCCAP are to the overall mission of Santa Clara University."

With its 23 programs addressing various social-justice issues, the organization aims to combine education with social service. SCCAP has organized such events as the Special Olympics, a soccer tournament in October and they are planning a basketball tournament in April

"I think SCCAP gives students the opportunity to take the initiative and really act and go out into the outer community," said junior Meghan Hennessey, who has been actively involved in SCCAP since her freshman year. "It just gives students the opportunity to get involved in the outer community. It kind of breaks the bubble of Santa Clara."

Many students involved in SCCAP see their involvement in SCCAP programs as enhancing their learning experience at Santa Clara.

"It's definitely a form of higher education," Crosson said. "I really think that people should be involved in the community to understand what they're working with and the kind of communities they will be interacting with later in life."

Added Crosson, "I think SCCAP gives another outlet to seeing the world, like being able to see the world with different eyes, like being in solidarity with everybody."

Both Crosson and Hennessey acknowledge a sense of duty in helping those who have been oppressed and ignored.

"There's a lot of privileged people that go here," Hennessey said. "When you go out and you work with a community that is completely marginalized, you can see what's happening."

This sentiment drives many members of SCCAP to take action in the form of rallies and protests.

"Once you're in there and you're working with these people, you can also find ways to advocate for them as well," Hennessey said.

However, Crosson is careful to use the word advocate.

"I think being an advocate for the issues makes us look completely and utterly political," Crosson said. "But we work with poor people, we work with oppressed people, we work to improve the environment or whatever."

Crosson admits that members can often become frustrated with the oppression they see. He believes people sometimes see that anger being used to "push a political agenda," but as Crosson and Hennessey express, "it's much more than that."

Similar to SCCAP, the Arrupe Center works to engage students in the Santa Clara community in service that helps them understand the realities of the lives of the marginalized and the poor.

However, SCCAP, which is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year, differs from Arrupe in that it is a student-run program, where students are taking the initiative to lead it.

"It really gives the students the opportunity to get involved hands on and kind of take this in their own direction and go with it where they want to go," Hennessey said.

* Contact Lindsey Hart at (408) 554-4546 or lmhart@scu.edu.