WASHINGTON, DC — When members of the Fisk University Class of 1979 recently pondered ideas for helping freshen the image of the institution after years of `bad’ press they decided Fisk alumni needed to “give back” to Nashville and the nation for its support of the university since it was founded just after the Civil War to help educate freed slaves.
The National Day of Service, a day to be set aside for Fisk alums to collectively engage in a local volunteer project, was launched this year in five cities with Class of `79 members in each community serving as local effort organizers.
‘Now is the time to increase and enhance the image of Fisk and engage the community,” said Jackie Harris, the Class of `79 National Day of Service organizer of Fisk alumni in the Washington, D.C. area. “ There was a lot of negative publicity about Fisk and it caused a lot of backlash,” said Harris, a pharmaceutical sales representative for E.I. Lilly. “ It was time to reconnect with our communities and rebuild relationships,” said Harris.
Washington was one of five cities for the first National Day of Service,
held here October 5, to complement the university’s annual October 6 Jubilee Day Celebration, a long-established day of reflecting on the university’s legacy and raising scholarship funds for current and future students.
Here, nearly a dozen Fisk alums responded to the Class of `79 call and joined staff from the University of the District of Columbia and furloughed federal agency employees to volunteer for a day at the Capital Food Bank, a non-profit organization that is the region’s largest harvester and distributor of donated foods for the needy.
The Fisk group helped fill more than 2,500 bags with an assortment of can goods and healthy snacks to be distributed for free to children, working adults and retired senior citizens in need of food assistance. Among the volunteers was Samuel Williams, Class of `68 and former member of the Fisk Board of Trustees.
The Washington ef- fort, which Harris said the Fisk alumni hoped to stage again next year with larger numbers participating, was complemented by a book collection effort in Nashville spearheaded by Class of `79 member Cathy Ginn and a Habitat for Humanity project in Atlanta spearheaded by Class of `79 members Karen Armstrong and Melanie Boyd.
In Houston, Texas, Class of `79 member Sylvester Anderson organized Fisk alums to help build a free library in an underprivileged community. In San Francisco, Cassondra Smith, Class of `98, led the San Francisco Bay Area alumni in work on a neighborhood church.
“Our purpose is to- serve as Fisk Jubilee Ambassadors, giving back to the Nashville community and communities across the country, creating goodwill and enhancing Fisk’s image while fellowshipping with active alumni and re-engaging alumni,” said a Class of `79 statement “Inspiring Change Through Service to Our Communities.”
Indeed, like all institutions across the country, Fisk is seeking contributions on a regular basis to help students in need of financial aid to attend and finish college. The new Day of Service demonstrates Fisk students, once graduated and part of the work force, can give collectively in many non- monetary ways as well, Harris said.
“We’re not just asking for money,” said Harris. “We’re giving back.”
The added alumni effort comes as Fisk is aggressively trying to launch a new chapter under recently hired President H. James Williams.