{"id":221375,"date":"2023-06-13T15:01:24","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T19:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=221375"},"modified":"2023-07-28T13:08:12","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T17:08:12","slug":"inspiring-tomorrows-public-service-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2023\/06\/13\/inspiring-tomorrows-public-service-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring Tomorrow\u2019s Public Service Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: Earlier this month, Montclair, in partnership with the Bonner Foundation, hosted another public service-focused program, where about 400 administrators, faculty, staff and student Bonner leaders<\/a> of 75 universities from around the country met for a four-day Bonner Summer Leadership Institute focused on community-engaged learning and service. Read more about that here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Public service-focused students from eight universities gathered at Montclair State University recently for the inaugural NextGen Service Corps Summer Summit for a week filled with networking, learning and community service opportunities.<\/p>\n

Montclair State University President Jonathan Koppell, Volcker Alliance and NextGen staff welcomed the 33 students who hailed not only from Montclair but also from Arizona State University, Georgia State University, Indiana University, University of Nebraska \u2013 Omaha, University of Washington, Syracuse University, University of Houston and City University of New York.<\/p>\n

Montclair\u2019s Natasha Soto, a rising sophomore and International Business major, said she was energized by participating in the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest takeaway during the NextGen Summer Summit was having the opportunity to collaborate with universities nationwide on a similar passion of public service,\u201d Soto said. \u201cHearing about the different universities\u2019 programs inspired me to apply them to ours here at MSU.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Montclair\u2019s NextGener Natasha Soto lifts a box of canned goods at the food pantry in Paterson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Koppell, who created the NextGen Program in partnership with the Volcker Alliance<\/a> while he was at Arizona State University and brought it to Montclair, gave students a history of the program, noting that while it began at ASU\u2019s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions (where he was dean), it was designed to be much bigger than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic service is not just for people who want to work for the government. There are lots of people interested in public service, even if they don’t want to make it their job,\u201d he explained, likening the program to a public service academy analogous to West Point or Annapolis, which train people for military public service, but for people who want to do civilian public service.<\/p>\n

The program has now grown to the eight universities that participated in the summit. It has not been a hard sell to students. As Koppell told them: \u201cPeople in your age cohort are more service motivated than my generation, and you’re thinking more about, \u2018How am I going to make a difference in the world?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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President Jonathan Koppell addresses NextGen Service Corps members attending the summer summit hosted at Montclair.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While that\u2019s a tall order, Koppell said he and NextGen staff believe in the students\u2019 ability to change the world.<\/p>\n

NextGen Service Initiatives Senior Director Brett Hunt said it was important for the students to know the NextGen history, calling the inaugural summit a \u201cwatershed moment\u201d and commending the students for being selected by faculty and staff to participate.<\/p>\n

The week\u2019s events, he said, were designed to \u201cinspire and prepare the next generation of leaders to serve their communities and the nation\u201d by providing them with tangible leadership and public-service skills. \u201cWe want to prepare you to go and do that service, that lofty goal of changing the world and making things better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Developing students\u2019 networking skills was a big part of the program, said Naomi Garcia-Hector, a \u201cNextGener\u201d and program intern for the Volcker Alliance\u2019s Next Generation Service Corps initiative, who is a Public Policy major and rising junior at Georgia State University.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic service is hard work and change is a slow-moving train \u2013 and sometimes it feels like it’s moving backwards \u2013 so to be around other students who are just as passionate and eloquent as you can be super exciting because it makes you feel like \u2018OK, these are the other students who care about climate change like I do, who care about human rights and equality and justice like I do.\u2019 It makes me feel like we’re all carrying the burden of the world’s problems together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Naomi Garcia-Hector, a Georgia State University \u201cNextGener\u201d and program intern for the Volcker Alliance\u2019s Next Generation Service Corps, addresses fellow students during the summer summit kickoff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The NextGen students had long days both on and off campus including a day in Paterson, where they volunteered at several service agencies such as Father English Community Center, St. Peter\u2019s Haven, Montclair Community Farms and Toni\u2019s Kitchen. As part of its commitment as a public-serving institution, Montclair has an ongoing commitment to partnering with nearby communities, most recently with the revitalized Hinchliff Stadium and the Charles L. Muth Museum<\/a> and One Square Mile<\/a> projects in Paterson.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only did these students learn the importance of service but they understood the value of their efforts and how they can affect change,\u201d said Jessica Pichardo, Project Coordinator for the Center for Community Engagement.<\/p>\n

The NextGen students also spent a day in Manhattan, splitting into three groups based on their interests and visited the United Nations, Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Survivors Justice Project. In addition, the group had lunch with NYC Council Member Shaun Abreu and visited the 911 Memorial, as well as Paterson\u2019s Great Falls.<\/p>\n

The group at the UN met with Ambassador Chris Lu, who spoke to them about \u201cthe idea of being a generalist versus specialist\u2026to have your passions but not get tunnel vision,\u201d Garcia-Hector said. He shared with the student leaders that \u201cpublic service is hard work and leadership can be lonely sometimes,\u201d so he urged them to ground themselves, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe passion was never lacking for students,\u201d Garcia-Hector added. \u201cI think we’ve definitely hit our goal to be able to have students leave not only feeling more connected with the network but with the public-service community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students, many of whom are passionate about addressing climate change, were in New Jersey and New York June 5-9 during an Air Quality Alert due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. They wore masks and spent as little time outdoors as possible and discussed the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought up the issue that America continues to face, where our country is not really willing to go through short-term pain for long-term gain specifically with climate change,\u201d Garcia-Hector said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that we’re stressed about because we recognize the severity of the situation \u2013 and the smog in New York and across the Northeast was a striking example of exactly what’s going on and foreshadows the kind of world that we could be looking to.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sporting Montclair NextGen T-shirts, students load up food bags at Father English Community Center in Paterson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soto, who is passionate about social justice and has volunteered at the Red Hawk Pantry, said the week\u2019s events inspired her to continue her path of public service. \u201cKnowing that I am helping to make someone\u2019s life a bit brighter is all the satisfaction I need. Having a career in public service is a selfless one, and it makes all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students will return to their campuses as the \u201ckeepers of the flame,\u201d Koppell said. \u201cYou’re going to be the ones who ignite first of all, fellow students in the program, but then you’re going to become models for other students at your own universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about the program, visit NextGen Service Corps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery<\/h2>\n
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Story by Staff Writer Sylvia A. Martinez<\/a>. Photos by John J. LaRosa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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