History
In the mid-1980s, college students were characterized as the "Me Generation,” interested largely in personal comfort and status. Brown University President Howard Swearer took exception to this label, witnessing the commitment of Brown students to address societal concerns. He also felt that universities had to do more to establish a firm institutional commitment to public service and strengthen links between community engagement and the academic work of the university. In 1986, President Swearer established the Center for Public Service at Brown.
Public service is part and parcel of what Brown is. The Brown curriculum itself reflects this orientation, through its language of empathy and moral convictions. This work is not "extra-curricular" but rather central to a Brown education. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff possess an outward-facing orientation, interested in what their knowledge, abilities, and values mean in light society’s pressing challenges.
Over the past 20 years, the Swearer Center for Public Service has partnered with dozens of organizations and supported countless hours of public service. The following timeline is a collection of highlights from the Center’s history.