Celebrating National Volunteer Week with Stories of Service at Rawls College
Service. Built on Rawls.
Jacob Gordon | April 17, 2023
While April 16 marks the start of National Volunteer Week, service-related activities and initiatives can be found at the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business throughout the year. After all, one of the core values of Rawls College is to engage and build community, which is often done through acts of service.
To celebrate the week, four groups within Rawls College discuss the role service has played for their communities, their members and themselves as individuals.
Service for Experiences – Alpha Kappa Psi
When Reagan Fitzgerald, vice president of administration for Alpha Kappa Psi, plans service opportunities for the business fraternity, she hopes to broaden the range of experiences her fellow fraternity members have.
“I think it's important for members to experience different things that people have to go through,” said Fitzgerald. “The most important aspect is to open people's perspectives.”
Fitzgerald knows first-hand the value of having a diverse range of experiences: she is one of a small handful of students in the business fraternity that are not business students. Fitzgerald is actually a senior majoring in environmental engineering.
“Being in Alpha Kappa Psi has taught me about business etiquette, what to do in an interview and the importance of professionalism,” said Fitzgerald. “I wouldn't have known how to do any of that without Alpha Kappa Psi. Engineering doesn't offer us that kind of stuff.”
To give her fellow fraternity members a similar opportunity, Fitzgerald tries to schedule at least four service opportunities each semester.
By casting as wide of a net as possible, Alpha Kappa Psi has done all types of service activities, including volunteering to do face painting during a Halloween party at a local elementary school and helping at an animal shelter.
“We've even partnered with the other business fraternity on campus, Delta Sigma Pi, to give donations to Women Protective Services in a competitive manner,” said Fitzgerald. “Friendly competition drives our organizations. It was really fun and so rewarding to see how we could help the community.”
Service for the Next Generation – Real Estate Organization
Though Ben Fonville, philanthropy chair for the Real Estate Organization (REO) and a senior majoring in finance with a concentration in commercial real estate, is preparing to graduate in May 2023, he still vividly remembers the nerves he felt during Red Raider Orientation as an incoming first-year student.
“I nearly cried,” laughed Fonville. “I was just like, wow, Tech is huge! My graduating class had 18 students, and Tech had 40,000. Plus, there's the added pressure of college setting up what you're going to do with the rest of your life.”
The memories of those nerves and that pressure are what guide Fonville as he plans the service activity for REO each semester.
“I just see kids having a lot harder of a time helping themselves,” said Fonville. “I didn't do [college] the most optimal way with internships and scheduling my classes. I want to make sure that the next generation of kids has some guidance and information about the best way to do college and to prepare themselves for the rest of their life.”
During the fall 2022 semester, Fonville reached out to Lubbock-Cooper ISD to connect with students completing the real estate program there. Fonville, alongside other REO officers and their faculty advisors, held a Q&A session with those students and talked about the real estate program and navigating college coursework.
“It was special to talk to those 17- and 18-year-olds and calm them down before they start the whole process,” said Fonville. “A lot of people show up [to college], and it's the first time they're away from their parents. It can be a big shock. I know that some guidance would have been really helpful for me.”
Fonville plans on working with the next generation of Rawls College students even after graduating by staying in contact with his real estate instructors, Carl Pankratz, instructor, and Jared Harrell, professor of practice.
“I plan on still being involved with Tech and being a mentor with some of the real estate courses,” said Fonville. “I can't overstate how important [Pankratz] and [Harrell] have been to me. I just want to make sure I help the people who helped me and who will be going through similar experiences.”
Service for the Community – Rawls Career Management Center
Community service may not be the first thing that comes to mind when a person thinks of the Rawls Career Management Center (CMC), but it is something on the mind of the staff throughout the entire year.
Leading the CMC's service push is Autumn Arthur, assistant director of marketing and outreach. Arthur spends a good portion of her time coordinating and planning at least a quarterly service activity.
“As a department, we feel that it's important to give back to the community that has been so good to us and Rawls College,” said Arthur. “It also helps that service is one of the pillars of our college and the TTU Centennial celebration!”
Since joining the CMC team in September 2022, Arthur has helped the CMC partner with organizations like the South Plains Food Bank, Lubbock Impact and Catholic Charities Resale Center.
She has plans for the CMC to participate in Texas Tech's Arbor Day planting event in April and hopes to have one or two service events during the summer months.
“We are so blessed in America - our jobs, our cars, our homes and our possessions. One way we can all give back is to give some of our time to bless others in need. I'm so thankful to work at the CMC where my teammates feel the same way.”
Service for Marginalized People – Women in Business
At the core of Women in Business's (WiB) mission statement is giving members opportunities for professional growth through community service, and leading that initiative is Leah Woodard, vice president of community service and social events and a management major.
“Volunteering is an integral part of Women in Business,” said Woodard. “We are fortunate to have incredible alumni currently working in the field that come and volunteer their time to speak at our meetings and give incredibly valuable advice about what it's like working in a primarily male-dominated world. These women inspire us to return the favor and give back.”
When Woodard looks for service opportunities, she tries to target organizations that support women and girls.
“I think the shared experience we all possess as women who have grown up in the current world is so special,” said Woodard. “It inspires us to help each other. Many of us have been fortunate enough to have incredible female role models within our lives that have helped us adjust and grow, and I think we want to give that back to other girls and women that need it.”
To end the academic year, WiB is throwing a Mother-Daughter Day Event on April 22. The organization is inviting middle school girls and their mothers or guardians to a day at Rawls College.
“We'll discuss a variety of things like ways to make college accessible, student resources at Tech and possible careers for the girls that are interested in going to college,” said Woodard. “This will be the first time we hold this event, but we are so excited and hopefully plan to make this a yearly event.”
Service. Built on Rawls.
For as much good as any service activity can do for a community, those activities often bring opportunities for people to develop transferrable skills needed in a work environment.
“One of the biggest aspects of being involved in the business world is person-to-person communication,” said Fonville, speaking about the communication skills he has developed during his role as philanthropy chair. “There's often a transactional feeling in conversations, and it's common in business. But you always do better for yourself and others if you can be genuine and let the other person's voice be heard.”
Fitzgerald noted that her communication skills often developed in moments of collaboration.
“Throughout a lot of events you can be separated into groups,” said Fitzgerald. “You can be with different people in your organization. It's cool to see when everyone's separated, who takes charge and who is comfortable following.”
Along with good communication skills comes the confidence to use them and be comfortable in unfamiliar environments – key aspects noted by Woodard and Arthur.
“Volunteering has allowed me to feel more connected to the people in my community and reminded me of the importance of helping other people,” said Woodard. “I am now more confident when speaking to new people and have been able to learn so much from both the team of officers and members of Women in Business.”
“Being in charge of the outreach initiatives for the CMC is stretching me out of my comfort zone,” said Arthur. I need to reach out to organizations, schedule volunteer appointments and go do the work!”
As Rawls College continues to educate and empower students, staff and faculty to become the next generation of business leaders, providing service opportunities is sure to be an ever-constant priority.
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