A third-grader catches her teacher swigging a soda and cries, “You’re a Nitwit!” Her classmates join in, wiggling their fingers as part of a game about nutrition. The scene plays out in an obesity-prevention project, Nitwit!, one of more than 75 such programs sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University’s Leonard Gelfand Center for Service Learning and Outreach. Students, faculty, and staff volunteered more than 110,000 hours at the center last year alone. The result? The university was honored with inclusion in the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for “exemplary, innovative, and effective community service programs.” Very sweet, indeed.
—Janet Jay (DC’07)
