USD Magazine, Winter 2003

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Students demonstrated at an anti-hate crimes rally on campus, while campus leaders Linh Quach and Stephanie RahIfs ( center photo, left to right) chaired a panel discus– sion on civic engagement.

Activist Students Stir Up Civic Awareness helped form a volunteer organization to assist residents in San Diego's Sherman Heights who are being displaced by down– town revitalization. "Getting involved pro– vides you with a different world books don't provide. It makes you more conscious of things chat are going on, not just on campus but worldwide." Aguilar pushes the housing advocacy group, Developing Unity through Residents Organizing, to dispel stereotypes and educate college students on the real problems and issues of low-income families. In November, she was among five college students nation– wide recognized for outstanding commitment to community service by Campus Compact, a coalition of college and university presi– dents that promotes civic participation. The quintet was honored at Rhode Island's Brown University, home of the group, with the annual Howard R. Swearer Student Humanitarian Award, named after one of the three university presidents who founded the organization. Back at Alcala Park, ocher like-minded students are gearing up to promote Campus Compacc's "Raise Your Voice" campaign, a two-year national push to get college students involved in public life as a fundamental part of their education. ''As citizens, students should be commit– ted to helping their neighbors and their communities," says junior Linh Quach, 20, USO representative to the national cam– paign. "When I witness social injustice, it's a call for me to want to correct it." Quach and others are planning a National Civic Engagement Week for February, with events including a community engagement

by Cecilia Chan S enior Genoveva Aguilar stood for a half hour under a hot sun, waving a sign that read ¼ Basta con el Odio - No More Hate. Her clutched fist pounded the air as she shouted the words for emphasis: "No more hate, no more hate... " Whether stirring up student awareness at a campus hate crimes rally or empowering 4 USO MAGAZINE

low-income San Diego residents to fight for housing, Aguilar, who double majors in soci– ology and Spanish and minors in ethnic studies, is hands-on when it comes to civic engagement. "Knowledge and skills don't always come from books," says the 23-year-old Aguilar, who tutors at Juvenile Hall and last year