The Cornell Tradition was named the "Daily Point of Light" for May 29, by action of the Corporation for National Service, the Points of Light Foundation and the Knights of Columbus, which sponsor the awards.

Given each weekday, a Daily Point of Light Award honors an individual or organization that makes a positive difference in the lives of others. Originated during the administration of President George Bush, the program was reinstated Jan. 1, 1998, by the joint actions of President Bill Clinton and former President Bush.

The Cornell Tradition is an alumni-endowed program established in 1982 at Cornell University, and it awards 600 fellowships each year to undergraduate students at Cornell based on their work experience, campus and/or community service and academic achievement.

The Daily Point of Light Award -- which includes a certificate, congratulatory letters from Clinton and Bush and being featured on the Points of Light Foundation web site -- was announced at a May 22 farewell gathering in the A.D. White House on the Cornell campus for Cornell Tradition's Director Janiece Bacon Oblak.

The Points of Light Foundation was founded in May 1990 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization devoted to promoting volunteerism. Based in Washington, D.C., it promotes community service through partnerships with a nationwide network of more than 450 volunteer centers and through alliances with corporations, nonprofits, government agencies and individuals.

Over the past five years, Cornell Tradition fellows have averaged 166 hours of campus and community service annually, per student, equaling nearly 100,000 total hours per year. And the program provides up to $3,500 per year in loan replacement for students in the program who complete at least 75 hours of volunteer community service and 250 hours of paid work, while maintaining their grades. Since its founding in 1982, Cornell Tradition has replaced nearly $20 million in student loans.

The Cornell Tradition's Student Advisory Council develops and manages a variety of service activities for the other students in the program. There is a wide range of service projects: food, blood and book drives; monthly volunteering at local soup kitchens; regular educational

programs for youth and families at the Ithaca Sciencenter; semiweekly "bingo nights" at a local nursing home; an ongoing computer assistance service for local nonprofits and retired faculty members; and many one-time efforts, such as holiday parties and neighborhood cleanups.

Special opportunities offered by the Cornell Tradition staff also encourage students to offer their service and leadership to the community, from Ithaca to around the globe. The Community Action Fellows program supports a limited number of students each year who want to design and implement an independent project in cooperation with a nonprofit agency in Ithaca to meet a community need. The Menschel Public Service Internships support students who want to intern with a nonprofit organization anywhere in the country.

In a speech given at the Cornell Tradition Convocation Feb. 22, the co-founder of City Year -- a program of the Corporation for National Service that co-sponsors the Daily Point of Light Award -- Michael Brown said that the Cornell Tradition was "a model for the entire country." If the Cornell Tradition could somehow become an "American Tradition," he said, it would "make the whole country incandescent."