"There was no direct longer-term involvement, and that's what was really lacking. Within the curriculum there was a relative unacceptance of the validity of this kind of learning as part of the historical definition of what academia thought valuable. 'This is not real learning. It's something you can do in the summers.'"

Then along came something called "the flexible fifteen," a chunk of credit hours to be devoted to more experiential types of courses or projects. Still, most learning of this type was relegated to January Plans and was viewed as, if not second-class, then certainly as less significant than learning that took place in the traditional classroom.

"Gradually that changed," Morrione said. "And it changed by faculty building these kinds of things into their regular courses. As that started to happen, the students demanded . . . more of that kind of involvement. I'd see it in my course evaluations. Students would say, 'Just going down to the homeless shelter wasn't enough, dropping in once or twice. We ought to have it as an option in the course.'"

For sociology students, that meant more fieldwork. Morrione recalls an early foray that had an entire research methods class doing a house-to-house survey in rural Waldo County. "It truly transformed the way they saw life in Maine in general," he said. "The stories are wonderful."

Over the years community-based learning elbowed its way into the curriculum but still was seen as being outside the core of Colby's mission. It made its appearance early in science, with the now-traditional lake studies done by the Biology Department, but also appeared in courses like the documentary filmmaking still taught by Phyllis Mannocchi (English). In the early 1990s Morrione proposed making community service a graduation requirement, mirroring what was happening in many of the nation's high schools. That idea was defeated, but only after heated debate.

Still, community-based learning and service was gaining momentum at Colby. The Colby Volunteer Center was thriving and expanding, with dynamic student leaders at the helm. The Student Government Association started Colby Cares Day, an annual spring event that sent hundreds of students into area communities to do service projects.

Faculty members like Tappan and Associate Professor Lyn Mikel Brown (education and human development) understood that sending education students into the schools benefited both secondary schools and the Colby students. "We first started out thinking of it as more of a practicum experience for the students," Tappan said. "It soon became obvious that students were performing a very valuable service."

Mannocchi has been dispatching student film crews into the community for more than a decade, creating documentaries on social issues that have included women in Maine with HIV, the dedication of firefighters and other unsung heroes, the lives of exotic dancers. Students develop relationships with their subjects. "It's the best kind of teaching for me," she said. "I really feel I'm teaching to create social change."

Of course, this overlapping of community and classroom hasn't happened in a vacuum, and emergence of a refired civic spirit does not contradict the tenets and traditions of the College or the country. Scholars who have considered the impetus for volunteerism in America go back as far as Native American treatment of early European settlers, Christian ethics and the frontier tradition of cooperation noted by Alexis DeTocqueville.

Brian O'Connell, professor of public service at Tufts University and founder of the organization Independent Sector, points out that in recent years it has been volunteers who have created everything from Hospice to Alcoholics Anonymous. Volunteer activists have pushed the environmental movement and reforms in health care, education and rights for the disabled.

While government has been driven by the people, the last two presidents--one Republican and one Democrat--both have made community service a priority. Bill Clinton, following in the tradition of Peace Corps creator John F. Kennedy, brought forth AmeriCorps. President George W. Bush followed with his "faith-based initiative" and his post-September 11 call for all Americans to combat terrorism by performing community service.

"It seems as if there is a call for renewal and a call for community service that we've not observed before, targeted at this age group," said Patricia Nash, at Independent Sector in Washington, D.C. And the call has not gone unanswered. Applications for the Peace Corps, for example, increased about 40 percent in the weeks following the State of the Union address.

This call for volunteers to turn out on campus and elsewhere may be unprecedented in its scope, but it is also cyclical, following the nation's economic ups and downs. Associate Professor Bill Klein (psychology), who has studied the psychological causes and effects of altruism, says people are more likely to be helpful to others "when their basic assumptions are challenged--such as the veil of invulnerability that was stripped from us on September 11." Klein also points out that while altruism can be a result of an economic boom, it typically continues even when the boom has turned to bust because people have learned the benefits--for themselves and others--of community service.

This current interest in volunteerism was spawned during a time of tremendous prosperity for some Americans but not for others, said Sharon Daloz Parks, author and a director of the Whidbey Institute, a Washington-state-based nonprofit that is committed to addressing "environmental, spiritual and social challenges." But she maintains that all of us have a tremendous capacity for empathy, a trait that is accentuated when times are good.