Just one month after the terrorist attacks in the United States, more than 70 national and state leaders and college and university presidents, staff and students from across New York gathered to celebrate the signing of the charter for the New York Campus Compact (NYCC) at Pace University in lower Manhattan, six blocks west of the World Trade Center site.

The NYCC executive board, in consultation with Pace University President David A. Caputo, remained resolute in hosting the celebration at Pace on Oct. 16, despite the campus's proximity to the site of the attack. With the Sept. 11 disaster and the community service efforts that followed as a backdrop, and given the NYCC's mission -- to promote "service learning" (a method of teaching and learning that builds academic and citizenship skills among students, while renewing communities) and student community service -- the location could not have been more appropriate for the founding of this new state Campus Compact, the 26th in the nation.

Caputo began the ceremony with a moment of silence in remembrance of those who died in the Sept. 11 tragedy. Next, presidents representing the spectrum of public and private, two- and four-year colleges and universities in New York state signed the official NYCC organization charter. The signers represent the following institutions: Cornell University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Nassau Community College, Nazareth College, Pace University and the State University of New York (SUNY) campuses at Cortland, Geneseo and Oswego. Niagara Community College and Syracuse University join that group as the charter members of NYCC.

The co-chairpersons of NYCC are Christopher C. Dahl, president of SUNY Geneseo, and Mark Gearan, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Speakers at the signing ceremony included Elizabeth L. Hollander, national executive director of Campus Compact; Edward Zlotkowski, professor of English at Bentley College, senior faculty fellow at the national Campus Compact and senior associate at the American Association for Higher Education; and Kenneth Reardon, associate professor of city and regional planning at Cornell. The presidents then reflected on the signing of the charter as a symbol of the commitment of colleges and universities in New York state to working together with their communities to promote civic life and to empower their students to become active citizens. Recalling the opening words of Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities , Hollander said, "We have just been through the worst of times, but this event [the launching of the NYCC] affirms the way we are capable of responding -- the best of us."

Zlotkowski noted, "NYCC is entering the compact at a time when it's never been stronger." He highlighted programs and services available to network members interested in expanding the role of civic responsibility in higher education. "Members," he said, "have access to service-learning models from around the country, training for chief academic officers, colloquia for presidents, special workshops for chairs, an Engaged Department Summer Institute and VISTA volunteers to help train as faculty assistants."

Reardon remarked similarly: "The service-learning and civic engagement movement is transforming American higher education. It is challenging students and faculty to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the arts, humanities, social sciences and professions by working with inspired civic leaders representing community-based organizations, faith-based institutions and local government agencies as they seek workable and lasting solutions to the problems undermining the quality of life for the poorest, most vulnerable and least powerful members of our society."

At the close of the ceremony, nearly a dozen college students, named New York Campus Compact Charter Scholars, received recognition for their leadership in college and university community service programs.

In the coming months NYCC will work to grow its membership and foster and support the development of community-service and service-learning programs in colleges and universities across the state.

To find out more about New York Campus Compact, contact Robert A. Bonfiglio, vice president for student and campus life, SUNY Geneseo, (716) 245-5618, bonfig@geneseo.edu .