Good Men Good Citizens Revived on Campus
by: Neil Smith ‘12Once in decline, new leadership puts GMGC back in the forefront of student organizations
Deriving its name from the mission statement of the college, Good Men and Good Citizens was once the largest student-led organization on Campus, which used to maintain the service-based clubs on campus. The organization used the avenue of service to instill in the Hampden-Sydney Community a sense of duty to others, while promoting devotion beyond oneself. With their direct funding, Good Men and Good citizens used to control finances for the clubs directly under the umbrella of Good Men and Good Citizens. Within the past few years, the organization Good Men and Good Citizens has slowly disappeared from the campus due to the lack of leadership. Senior Tommy Ribaric said that he saw that the organization was in decline during his freshman year. Fortunately for the Good Men Good Citizens organization, a group of individuals, including Ribaric has sought to revive the organization.
The students dedicated to reviving the organization want to revive the organization’s mission statement: to enable each student to develop “a sensitive moral conscience, and a dedication to responsible citizenship.” Originally, the service-based clubs, such as At All Times in All Places, Big Brother, F.A.C.E.S., Special Projects, Habitat for Humanity, and Tutorial, were under the supervision of the Good Men and Good Citizens. Today, these programs are either independent of Good Men and Good Citizens, including their funding, or no longer exist. With the revival of Good Men and Good Citizens, the leadership is shifting the focus of the organization.
Instead of funding, the new focus of the organization is to act as a centralized information intermediary between clubs, fraternities, and other organizations, where Good Men and Good Citizens will maintain contact lists of willing volunteers and match those volunteers with volunteer projects. Hopefully, by centralizing volunteer information, the club will streamline the process of organizing volunteers for service projects. For example, a fraternity or simply a student may approach Good Men and Good Citizens in order to find a service project, and then Good Men and Good Citizen could lead the student or organization to a service project or organization in the community, like Habitat for Humanity or Big Brother.
In addition to organizational efficiency, the club intends to increase community outreach, in particular outreach to Prince Edward Schools. The students reviving Good Men and Good Citizens also plan on reviving the Big Brother Program, where students volunteer to spend time one-on-one time with a young student, help the young student with his or her school work, and mentor and encourage the young students to act as a good citizen. Also the group of students plan on reviving Tutorial. Tutorial is a program in which area students in the public schools benefit from Hampden-Sydney men who travel to the schools each week and assist students with their homework. Currently the club is communicating with Prince Edward County schools in order to find the most opportune time and way to reach out to the local schools.
With important plans, the students are optimistic about the organization playing an influential role at Hampden Sydney, since the students have given the organization a new face. According to the organization’s new chairman, Barron Frazier claims that the group wants to “bring the focus on service back to the curriculum of Hampden Sydney College.” If anyone has any great, intuitive service ideas or have an interest in serving the community, Good Men and Good Citizens encourage you to contact Barron Frazier via email (frazierb@hsc.edu) or Good Men and Good Citizens on Facebook.
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