Leaders in Service
Undertaking Social Justice Through Service
Service is not just an extracurricular activity at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Service is an essential component of the College’s mission and the charism of its founders, the Sisters of Charity of New York. Opportunities to serve can be found across the campus and throughout the curriculum.
Campus Ministry serves the entire College as a center for spiritual enrichment and personal development, fostering a spirit of service and sense of responsibility as modeled by Saints Vincent and Elizabeth Ann Seton. All faith backgrounds are encouraged to share in advancing a vibrant faith community while empowering servant leaders.
Exemplifying the College’s most fundamental values, the Seton Service and Leadership Program welcomes Mount students to join a like-minded community of peers who serve together, nurturing servant leadership skills.
Mount students work with numerous organizations to mitigate the needs of the homeless and working poor, including the All Saints Food Pantry, the St. Francis Breadline, Part of the Solution (POTS), and the Life Experience and Faith Sharing Association (LEFSA). Students also leave campus overnight for the Midnight Run, allowing volunteers to travel to midtown Manhattan to hand out food, clothing, and engage in conversation with the homeless.
Students participate in a range of activities to preserve the natural environment and to foster sustainable and nurturing communities, including Hudson River cleanups, service with Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, and efforts to promote local food sourcing and community gardens with Sisters Hill Farm.
Students serve as tutors and counselors at several educational institutions and after-school programs, including Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Park Ledge, and the Mexican American Students’ Alliance (MASA).
Global Concern: Learn, Serve, Immerse
Service is not just limited to our campus or immediate community. We live out our commitment on an international level, partnering with Concern Worldwide, health clinics in Guatemala, and through service in a variety of countries including Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Thailand. The College has expanded its array of study abroad opportunities, which empower students to cultivate equitable relationships, engage in social justice, support sustainable change, and deepen a commitment to our shared humanity.
Mount Saint Vincent’s study abroad programs unite nationally recognized academics with ethical service learning, creating greater access to high-quality international educational opportunities. Students enroll in rigorous interdisciplinary courses, live with a host family, and benefit from placements with leading service organizations.
Connecting the Classroom to the World
Students are encouraged to integrate service with their scholarly and professional interests. They can start their own service project, travel and serve internationally, take courses from the College’s degree program in Public Policy, pursue research related to social injustice through the Center for Undergraduate Research, and conduct internships with nonprofits and non-governmental organizations at the United Nations.
Our students have been involved in projects across the world: from a service project in Thailand to teach English to Burmese refugees at CDC Migrant School in Mae Sot, a city in Thailand that shares a border with Burma; Another spent nearly five months studying and serving abroad. A recipient of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, she traveled to Cusco, Peru where she studied Spanish courses in language, human rights, and environmental sustainability, as well as sociology courses based on service and social activism.