"This is a generation that is idealistic in wanting to make a difference. Our challenge is to honor that motivation," said former Peace Corps director and Clinton administration official Mark Gearan talking about civic engagement in the 21st century at the 11th annual Cornell Commitment Convocation on March 3.

Gearan, now president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, told the audience in Kennedy Hall's Call Alumni Auditorium that despite a common contention that this generation is lazy, apathetic and ignorant, evidence supports the idea that they are, in fact, still devoted to citizenship and a free democracy.

The convocation, which celebrated outstanding student researchers, activists and community service representatives, was sponsored by The Cornell Commitment, an alliance of the Cornell Tradition, Cornell Presidential Research Scholars and the Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars.

Take the 2004 election, Gearan said, pointing to an 11-point rise in voter turnout among young people since 2000. Of college freshmen, 83 percent volunteered at least occasionally in high school and two-thirds of current freshmen believe it is important, if not essential, to help people less fortunate or capable than others. These are the highest numbers in 25 years, said Gearan, who served as deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton.

Other evidence of this generation's commitment to service was at the convocation, where nearly 500 students and community members listened to Gearan and afterwards presented posters depicting their ongoing research and volunteer efforts.

It may be disheartening, said Gearan, to hear that only one in 1,000 adults can name all five freedoms in the First Amendment, while one in five can name the five main characters on the Simpsons. However, he believes all is not beyond hope.

"Civic engagement makes our democracy work," he said. "And higher education has a specific responsibility in teaching core values, duties and rewards of living in a free society. Being completely honest with ourselves, we will see that we haven't entirely lived up to this responsibility."

Yet many students are engaged. Nearly 1,000 students in Cornell Commitment programs contribute 160,000 hours of work and 70,000 hours of service each year.

Students aren't the only reason to be optimistic about the direction of our future, noted Todd Hilgendorff '02, an eighth-grade teacher, in presenting the Debra S. Newman '02 Cornell Tradition Community Recognition Award to Ron Havard, a local resident who volunteers with a host of programs in the Ithaca community, including 365 seniors at Lifelong.

"[They] didn't quit when they retired; they got busier," Havard said, in accepting the award. "That's what you'll find when you leave Cornell. The service doors open wider, and your community becomes larger and stronger for your help."

According to Gearan, our world needs people to be "fully involved." He outlined a 10-part plan for encouraging community participation in colleges and universities, highlighting the need to encourage compassion and leadership. We need compassion, he said, because science cannot tell us what should be done, only what can be done. And we need leadership because 99 percent of the world's population will never receive higher education, Gearan explained.

"This is a generation that might not say, 'I'm going to make a difference in the world,' but they do say, 'I'm going to make a difference in my part of the world,'" he said. "It is an equally idealistic generation, but a generation that is pragmatic in its approach."

Graduate student Sara Ball is a writer intern at the Cornell News Service.