Harvard Dems Create Service Group

The Harvard College Democrats plan to step up their commitment to community service this semester with the creation of DemsCorps—a program that will partner with existing student groups such as the Environmental Action Committee and the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, club officers announced at their first meeting of the semester yesterday.

The new program will offer different opportunities every week for its members, unlike some other community service groups on campus that focus on semester-long projects, according to Harvard Democrats President Jason Q. Berkenfeld ’11.

“Harvard often has the bad image of talking the talk and not necessarily walking the walk,” Berkenfeld said. “We want to change that.”

Though the Harvard Dems have undertaken small projects in the past—including weatherizing a house in Cambridge—Dems Communications Chair Lange P. Luntao ’12 said that DemsCorp will institutionalize the organization’s commitment to interacting with the Cambridge community as well as to attracting more service-minded members to the club.

The new program follows Republican Senator-elect Scott P. Brown’s recent victory, which galvanized the Harvard Dems officers to organize other initiatives, including a new fellowship for club members to work on political campaigns this summer.

“A lot of our members have seen their passion for Democratic candidates be stoked with the loss of the Democratic Senate seat,” Luntao said. “We are looking to really regain the kind of energy that there was on campus during the 2008 election.”

Berkenfeld added that he also wanted to strengthen the Dems’ alumni network to tap into potential funding sources and political opportunities for students.

Gregory J. Nickels, former Seattle mayor and current fellow at the Institute of Politics, also encouraged students to become involved in local politics and the community at the meeting.

“You have much more of a stake in the decisions that are made today,” Nickels said. “I would urge you to look at the local level.”

Several club members expressed their excitement about the new emphasis on community service after the meeting.

“It’s something you don’t see with a lot of political organizations,” Melanie A. Fontes ’13 said. “It’s a good new face, and it gives us an edge.”

—Staff writer Stephanie B. Garlock can be reached at sgarlock@college.harvard.edu.