YNL grants help reverse college stereotype

    Hellraisers. Deviants. Rascals. Partiers. Reckless. Scandalous. Lazy. Self-centered.
    College students are called a lot of things, and Murray State students are probably no exception. But now a group of Youth & Nonprofit Leadership students have rubbed out some of those widespread stigmas with a new term:
    Givers.
    March 4, the YNL program, along with visiting professor Bob Long and his wife Patricia, unveiled three new community aid programs designed to benefit Murray organizations and other students alike.
    Even better: The students conducted a peer-review and chose the grant recipients themselves.
    The group of grant recipients is quite varied. The YNL program chose regular student philanthropies such as Needline, American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters and United Way of Murray-Calloway County. But instead of keeping students involved with just the same organizations over and over, it also chose the Calloway County Humane Society, 4-H, Calloway County Adult and Family Education, Purchase Area Sexual Assault Center and Senior Citizens Center.
    From the recipient organizations, Murray State students broaden the scope of their community involvement: They now are helping rescue abandoned animals, comfort and protect domestic and sexual abuse victims, provide continuing education, blood health, and give children, youth and older adults role models and company.
    In fact, by the end of this calendar year, the YNL program will have given away $24,000 to the Murray area community through its various class projects - a far cry from what some alumni give their alma mater. And these kids haven’t even graduated yet.
    University President Randy Dunn summed it up best last week when he said these philanthropic efforts show Murray State is an “engaged campus.”
    Isn’t that the purpose of a quality higher education - to turn out well-rounded, compassionate individuals?
    The News applauds the YNL program and all involved with the Giving Back grants. Not only are they benefitting the community, they are helping reverse the long-held stigma that college kids only know how to party and skip class.
    These projects prove students are not only making the best of their grades, they are genuinely interested in helping their home away from home.
    The world - not just Murray - needs more administrators, teachers and students who take their studies to the next level and commit to seeing their ideas fleshed out.
    When college students take an interest in the world around them, it doesn’t just benefit their academics - it benefits lives.
    And if anything, it looks a whole lot better on a résumé than egging cars.