If any of you were at the graduation ceremonies last year, you might remember President Skorton’s commencement address. The one in which he said, “We are a land-grantuniversity to the world.” And, “the stakes are as high — or higher — than they were 60 years ago [at the end of the Second World War],” and that “nothing would honor the accomplishments of these graduates more than a major national and international effort, centered in our distinguished universities, to create a saner, safer, more sustainable, prosperous and equal world.”

I was there, and I remember feeling proud to be a Cornellian because I agreed with Skorton, as did many other Cornellians. A year later, a great many of us would still like to see the University come down from the Hill and into surrounding communities to cooperate and learn with those communities affected by Cornell. So invested are some of us students and faculty, that this past Friday a group of students organized the First Annual Service-Learning Conference where students from Cornell and Ithaca College presented their service-learning experience, calling for a broad initiative that would allow students to gain more experience in the field and fulfill an integral part of our civic duty.

Yes, many of us stand firmly behind the words of Skorton; we want a more progressive university. The only question is: Where was Skorton last Friday during the Service Learning Conference?”

Sources from the event indicate that he was sent an invitation and never responded — nope, not even a “no thanks” from his secretary. Okay, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt; he probably just never got the invitation. It was probably incorrectly addressed, or it was probably lost in the mail, or his dogs probably ate it. Yes, he probably just never got it.

And he probably never got the email that was sent out over the Arts and Sciences list serve, either.

Or maybe he was just too busy to hear the various groups talk about their efforts to protect community gardens in Ithaca or construct basic infrastructure in a Nicaraguan town. Or maybe he just didn’t want to hear from a group of students that mentors 8th graders from a middle school in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn, corresponding weekly via Blackboard and taking trips to New York City and Ithaca. Or maybe he didn’t want to hear about a 15 year old mentee who has been held back in school twice, despite the fact that just a little mentorship brought out an intelligent, if not always confident, young man who needs more support from institutions of privilege and power like Cornell.

Maybe he didn’t want to hear about how Cornell students are making his vision a reality, while his administration does little to nothing to support those service learning groups that are struggling to survive.

Indeed, many service learning programs that presented Friday spoke about their difficulties finding funding. Because the University does not sponsor many of them, a great many service learning initiatives are funded by private foundations that are becoming rather tired of having to pledge money, while the administration of such a wealthy university neglects them.

“Well, there just isn’t the money,” they might say to you, but don’t let them lie. The money is here. Just look at the state-of-the-art nanotech facilities or the world class residence halls or the brand new athletic facilities that pop up every few years. In addition, Cornell has just launched a $4.3 billion capital campaign. To be clear, the money is here. What is lacking, despite the warm rhetoric, is a set of priorities that fulfill ethical and civic obligations.

Yes, we do need a saner, safer, more sustainable, prosperous and equal world, and it is through a broad service learning initiative beginning here and now that we can help make this a reality. The administration recently received a proposal from the Public Service Center that calls for the creation of the Cornell Civic Engagement Center. The CCEC would infuse the PSC’s outreach mission with academia, creating essentially what the PSC was originally intended to be before the University sapped it of its academic mandate and resources.

What did Skorton do with this proposal? He… wait for it… yup, you guessed it… he sent it back! So much for integrity at the top!

Because the globe is an increasingly unequal place, we need more than ever to incorporate service learning into the curriculum at Cornell. Let us then challenge Skorton and his administration to first fund all the service learning programs struggling with funding. Let us then challenge Skorton and his administration to make service learning a central component of the Cornell experience by funding the Cornell Civic Engagement Center. In short, let us challenge Skorton and his administration to walk the walk they so eloquently talk.

Tomorrow at 5 p.m. in 105 Rockefeller Hall, there will be a follow-up meeting to the Service Learning Conference. I would recommend that any and all interested in holding the administration accountable come discuss and plan the next step in the struggle to make Cornell a more just place. President Skorton, you are invited, too.

Evan Baker-Smith is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be contacted at ebsmith@cornellsun.com. Praxis Makes Perfect will appear alternate Tuesdays this semester.