We hear a lot these days about “community service” and the organizations who make this a mainstay of their existence. A simple definition of this principle is to do things that serve the community. But from there, it gets a little fuzzy at UTM.

Is community service giving large sums of money? Is community service giving of your time and talents? Is community service donating food or goods? What exactly is this “community service” that garners the plaques, trophies and other accolades?

Truth be told, it is all of those things. An old German proverb tells us that “charity sees the need, not the cause.” Student organizations, particularly greeks, lose sight of that some times. The needs of our community do not always come in the form of photogenic causes. Far too often, layoffs and economic troubles lead to a large portion of the west Tennessee living at or below the poverty line.

UTM is generous with their time and talents. But while we give to children’s hospitals, cancer research and debilitating illnesses, we cannot forget those that desire life’s most basic needs.

A community service isn’t always for charity, either. Many organizations offer programs that cater to public awareness. This too is “serving the community” by bringing important issues to the forefront of conversation. Some would say this newspaper is considered a “service to the campus community.” We let our readers be the judge.

As we gather to celebrate diversity this month, remember that of it began as an opportunity to serve the community. Awareness of an opportunity quickly passing us by is what brought the Civil Rights Conference to UTM. Had a few visionaries not used this expanded definition of community service, the civil rights era would be nothing more than a fleeting memory instead of realized as vividly as is today.

We call on students and faculty alike to maintain an open definition when looking at the ways the serve the community.